joaquin phoenix Speech -
“I do not feel elevated above any of my fellow nominees because we share the same the love of film and this form of expression has given me the most extraordinary life,” he said. “I don’t know what I’d be without it.”
“I’ve been a scoundrel in my life,” he said. “I’ve been cruel at times, hard to work with. Many of you in this room have given me a second chance.”
“We’ve become very disconnected from the natural world,” he said. “We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives first we steal the baby and then we take her milk that’s intended for the calf and we put it in our coffee.”
The actor finished his speech mentioning his late brother River. “When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric, ‘Run to the rescue love and peace will follow.'”
Controversial himself, Phoenix spent most of the awards season calling out the lack of diversity in Hollywood. At the BAFTAs, the actor delivered a heartfelt speech about feeling “conflicted” about his own win, given actors and actresses of color were not nominated.
“So many of my fellow actors that are deserving don’t have that same privilege,” he said. “I think that we send a very clear message to people of color that you’re not welcome here. I think that’s the message that we’re sending to people that have contributed so much to our medium and our industry, and in ways that we benefit from.”
He continued: “This is not a self-righteous condemnation, because I’m ashamed to say that I’m part of the problem.”
He went on to say that he could do more to ensure that the sets he works on are “inclusive,” and that Hollywood as a whole needs to do more.
“We have to do the hard work to truly understand systemic racism. I think it is the obligation of the people that have created and perpetuate and benefit from a system of oppression to be the ones that dismantle it,” he said. “So that’s on us.”
