An Oscar highlight (or lowlight, depending on your point of view) was the first lady giving the award for Best Picture. This phenomenon was all the more remarkable since the winner, Argo, is arguable one of the most polished pieces of American political propaganda to emerge in awhile (along with Ms. Bigelow's offerings of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, of course).
How scared we are of asking why. Why did Mrs. Obama give this award? Why did this film win? Why are we so addicted to superficiality?
Argo is a well-made film, no doubt about it. But it doesn't ask why. Why were the hostages taken in the first place (something to do with America and the Shah, right?)? Like most of the other nominated films, there was little reflection on deeper truths and, evidently, this is what we honor with awards.
Considering the movie of our own lives, how willing are we to ask why? Why am I doing what I am doing, thinking what I am thinking, feeling what I am feeling? Uh oh, sounds like treading on sacred ground.
Asking open-ended questions like "Who am I?" has a remarkable effect on the left brain. It goes into a loop, cycling round and round, because there is no logical answer. And isn't this what we really need, to ask questions that lead us to deeper questions, not surface answers?
Perhaps the annual Oscar spectacle with its celebration of surface appearances and simplistic story lines can serve to remind us of the deeper opportunities we face in our lives. I don't know about you but it seems like about three months since last year's gala event... time is flying by. Better make every moment count then and go to depth with unanswerable questions as we write and act out the script of the movie each of us stars in every day!
Written in collaboration with -- Will Wilkinson
Master Charles Cannon Website -- http://mastercharlescannon.com
To learn more about Master Charles and all of his other work, visit -- http://synchronicity.org including High-Tech Meditation.