For those of us that saw the Oscars, we know it was a night filled with amazing wins and comedy (shoutout to those trump jokes though) and some awkwardness. Surprisingly enough what stuck out to me more than anything wasn't the La La Land and Moonlight switch up, but the fact that Lion was nominated for a whopping SIX awards and won ZERO.
Now I'll be honest, I didn't watch the movie until after the Oscars when I noticed it didn't win any awards. I thought to myself "well maybe it wasn't as good as everyone thought it was" and boy was I wrong. Lion explored numerous themes encompassing almost all the movies nominated. Not to devalue the others in any way, Moonlight was truly a brilliant movie, but I wish that Lion got more recognition and people realized it was about more than just a boy finding his way home.
One of the most prevalent themes that I didn't see as much in other nominated movies had to do with the importance of dependence. Now hear me out before you raise your eyebrows. Independence is a WONDERFUL thing and honestly not many people can say that they're capable of it or have the opportunity to be. Regardless, one of the most popular routes of a film (especially in this day and age) is to portray how important it is to be independent and stand on your own two feet. Lion shows the flipside of it and how dependence on the right people can lift you up even more and lead to so many more wonderful things. Saroo, in a search for his identity, begins to understand what it means to let yourself rely on someone wholeheartedly, which actually ends up speeding his quest. Being able to depend on Lucy and his adoptive mother lead him to believe that he is capable of discovering more about himself and capable of receiving that primitive nurturing and love from his birth mother.
What really hit home with me in Lion more than anything else was Saroo's assimilation to a completely different environment. I believe that this was just a subtle allusion to what some immigrants may call an "identity crisis". The act of having to balance your roots and heritage with the modernity or where you have moved to is something that I see several immigrants struggling with. Saroo is the poster child for this dilemma as he lives up to the Australian standard of living having Caucasian adoptive parents, a Caucasian girlfriend, studying at a prestigious university, and so on so forth. But, he never lets his faint memories of his childhood and culture leave him as he's haunted by how that has all shaped him to the human he is today, yet is indirectly forced to forget about it in Australia.
This was by no means critical against any of the other movies nominated, but I felt like bringing the uniqueness of this movie to light was needed. There are several more events in Lion that will drive you to tears, so if you're ever feeling up for a good movie night. Be prepared by grabbing a tissue box and setting the bar high, because trust me this movie meets every standard imaginable.
