"And the Academy Award for best actor in a leading position goes to....Leonardo DiCaprio".

*Internal and external screams of appreciation and love*

I know, I know, this year it was Casey Affleck(highly questionable) but whatever guys I'm never going to let go of Leo's moment and neither should America. Clearly I enjoy watching the Oscar's just as much as the next person because let's face it, it's fun to feel like you're sort of involved in the lives of those you watch on TV everyday. But as I was watching the Academy Awards on Sunday night, seeing awards go to best sound editing, best actor, best picture and so on I began to look at the whole thing a little cynically, as I tend to do about these types of things.

As Americans we dedicate these LONG nights on television(like seriously the Oscar's are four hours long) to people who entertain us. Now, I think that the work they do is very beautiful, sometimes grueling and emotional, and usually artful, but I can't say that when I think of the heroes in our nation, that Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling come to mind(no matter how BEAUTIFUL Ryan Gosling truly is and no matter how witty Emma Stone was in La La Land). The people that are true heroes don't get this kind of national recognition that our entertainers do and to me that's a little wrong.

Of course many of our heroes receive brief recognition through medals, a television segment, and mere thank you's from those whom they helped; but our heroes don't receive any recognition like our Hollywood stars do. When I think about people in my life that I would consider heroes, I think of my grandpa who is a physician that puts in hours upon hours of work, working closely with his patients, my uncle who does the same and gives up holidays to be readily available for people who need him, our friend Sheila who was a firefighter for twenty five years and faced things that no one would ever want to face, and so many more people that I could spend pages upon pages writing about. These people save lives, act selflessly, and care genuinely.

That being said, I know many of the Hollywood stars participate actively in charities or take acting roles that tell stories America needs to hear, and for that I appreciate and applaud them. In fact, I applaud our Hollywood stars for staying in the glaring flash of the camera for our own entertainment, but I think we have more people to thank than just the Academy, so thank you to all our heroes.