Here is the full speech:
Hello. What’s up? Hello. God, I’m so full of gratitude right now and I don’t feel elevated above any of my fellow nominees or anyone in this room, because we share the same love, love film and this kind of expression has given the most wonderful life.
I don’t know what I would be without it. But I think the greatest gift she has given me, and many of us in this room, is the opportunity to use our voice for the voiceless.
I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the distressing issues we face together and I think at times we feel or are made to feel we are ‘ n promote different causes. But for me, I see mediocrity.
I think whether we’re talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or innate rights or animal rights, we’re talking about the fight against injustice. We talk about the fight against the belief that one nation, one people, one race, one gender or one species has the right to dominate, control and use and exploit another without compulsion.
I believe that we have become very disconnected from the natural world and many of us, what we are guilty of is an egocentric worldview, the belief that we are the center of the universe. We go into the natural world and we rob it for its resources. We feel that we have the right to artificially fertilize a cow and when she gives birth, we steal her baby, even though her cry of agony is unmistakable.
And then we take her milk intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and cereal. And I think we’re scared of the idea of personal change because we think we have to sacrifice something to give up.
But human beings, at our best, are so inventive and creative and resourceful that I believe that when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop and implement systems of change that benefit all sentient beings and the Environment .
Now, I’ve been – I’ve been a scoundrel all my life. I’ve been selfish, I’ve been cruel at times, hard to work with and I’m grateful, but so many of you in this room have given me a second chance and I think that’s when we are at our best, when we support each other.
Not when we cancel each other for past mistakes, but when we help each other grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other toward redemption. That is the best of humanity. I just – I want to – when you are – when he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric. He said, “Running to the rescue with love and peace will follow.” Thank you.
c.2020 The New York Times Company
