Ahh the Oscars. Instead of people thanking their cast and crew, families, or even God, Oscar speeches are becoming more and more notorious for being personal campaigns.

This year alone was a boring enough Oscars, but the shameless hints at different campaigns was completely bogus. We heard about women’s equal pay, immigrants, and even “staying weird”. What happened to the I would like to thank the academy? Or thank you to my beautiful wife or husband?

The only people who gave classy speeches this year, for the most part, were the people who won the biggest awards. That was for leading actor and leading actress. These are the only people who should be able to give speeches, because they actually give a speech. Not a short and awkward presentation on their personal opinion on what is wrong with the world.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that people are trying to bring real problems to the table, but this is not the right place to do it. This is supposed to be an acceptance speech, not a save the world speech.

It makes sense that people feel strongly about the movies that they are in, such as Julianne Moore playing someone with Alzheimer’s and wanting to recognize those people. But she said that as a thank you to those who fight with Alzheimer’s. She didn’t yell at people, telling them that they need to appreciate them more.

An example of a spewed Oscar speech was Michael Moore’s famous speech from 2003. He won for his documentary film on 9/11. True, his argument about president Bush being the main reason for 9/11 was fitting for the context of what his film was about, but it was poorly done. He rushed up and said, “Shame on you Mr. Bush, shame on you”. Instead of directly calling one theory out from his film, Moore should have talked about the overall message.

Marlon Brando is also famous for a ridiculous Oscar speech – he didn’t even give it. In 1973, Brando won for his performance in The Godfather. Brando, though, sent a Native American women in his place who gave a speech on how poorly Americans Indians were treated in the industry. The Godfather had nothing at all to do with that topic, and is another great example of how the Oscar speeches are only political campaigns.

The last example comes from the Oscars this year, and was given by Patricia Arquette. She did thank Jesus and her family in her acceptance speech for her performance in Boyhood, but then she went on a different tangent. She talked about needing equal wages for women, especially in the film industry. Again, this is a very controversial and important topic, but it had nothing to do with her film.

A celebration of Hollywood’s biggest and brightest stars. It’s the Super Bowl for movies, but more recently it is turning into people’s personal political campaigns. Oscar speeches should only include problems that the movies itself addressed, not random world issues that someone decided to bring up.