A talented film composer won the most prestigious award a film composer can win this weekend, and he used his acceptance speech to dunk on gamers. ꦑWell, at least that is how one moment from this past weekend’s Academy Awards has been received by some very angry, very online video game enjoyers. The kind of people that use terms like “Hollywood elites” are mad at a Hollywood elite for being elitist, go figure.
To be fair, I myself had a visceral reaction while watching composer Ludwig Göransson accept his Best Original Score award for his work on Oppenheimer. At the end of his acceptance speech, Göransson thanked his parents, saying “thank you for giving me guitars and d🃏rum machines instead of video games.” The implication being that if he had grown up playing video games like most kids he would have grown up to be an unremarkable loser who doesn’t w𓆉in Oscars, like most people.
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Ludwig Göransson also won an Oscar in 2019 for his work on Black Panther and is a frequent collaborator with Donald🔯 Glover, two things gamers love.
Feeling personally offended, I sho𓃲uted at the screen, “Hey man, I’m just trying to live! Why am I getting hit by drive-bys just trying to watch TV on a Sunday night?” Then I calmed down, recognized that Göransson wasn’t making disparaging remarks about me personally, and enjoyed the rest of the show. I didn’t think about it again until I saw all the backlash on Monday from some very pressed people who have not yet been able to make peace with a very light jab at their h🔯obby. , while others took end.
Normally I don’t like to single people out when covering internet drama, but “call of duty taught me🌄 history. fortnite taught me teamwork. bioshock taught me politics. minecraft taught me architecture. palworld taught me biology” is the kind of unhinged g🍌amer tweet destined for immortalization as a copypasta, even if it is satire.
Gamers have an incredible chip on their shoulders, and it’s not entirely without reason. Video games have long been associated with the socially awkward, the physically feeble, and the unam♑bitious underachiever, and while that perception is changing, it definitely still exists. Regardless of what his actual intentions might have been, Göransson hit that particular sore spot,ꦛ triggering a wave of nerd rage across the internet.
It’s up to you to decide whether or not to be jealous of a famous composer winning an Oscar, just like it’s up to you to decide if you want to be jealous of John Cena's rock-hard body and perfect comedic timing. If you’re going to watch an award show for the most beautiful, talented, successful people in the world, you’re going to have a bad time if you let them make you feel inadequate.
The people on the TV giving and receiving Academy Awards are not like us, and their success is not a reflection or commentary on your own achievements. Maybe Göransson didn’t need to take a shot at video games like that, but unless you’re a gamer and a failed comp൲oser, there’s no 🌺reason to let a little joke hurt your feelings.