I didn’t watch the Oscars last night, except for what I heard drifting into the kitchen. Usually I’m not much bothered by awards, because it’s just a way for an exclusive group to pat itself on the back. On top of that, the selection is often political. But there were two awards that were well-deserved.

I was glad to hear Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor. Not because he died — because he legitimately created the most compelling character I’ve seen on screen this year. It was a brilliant acting job and deserves to be commemorated. His family’s gracious acceptance on his behalf was an appropriate footnote to the fact that we only got the tiniest slice of the genius that was lost. As sad as his death was, it’s more important to say that Heath Ledger legitimately deserved the award. (If there were a runner up, it goes no doubt to Robert Downey, Jr. for his insanely wicked work in Tropic Thunder.)

I was also happy to watch on YouTube this morning the gracious and heartfelt speech offered by Dustin Lance Black after winning Best Original Screenplay for Milk. I didn’t see any of the five films that were nominated, but if half of the sincerity and personal devotion I heard in his voice came through in the script of the film Black wrote, it no doubt deserved to win:

Black put a real human face on this and showed how ridiculously outdated the debate on equal rights is. He’s not a pervert. He’s not a monster. He’s a guy who loves his mom and dad and dreams of one day falling in love and getting married and having a happy life with no one to harm him. I’m rarely impressed when politics and Hollywood mix — it’s usually just smug pontificating by people with no concept of reality who think that playing powerful people on screen leaves them qualified to rule the world. This was different, and it’s nice to hear a message of happiness from someone who has walked that line and came through with hope.