Does everyone feel like I do about this? Does everyone feel that Christmas has come early?
The Oscars ceremony is run like a vast well-oiled machine with heaven knows how many competent and clever individuals involved in the preparation for an event that is screened round the world. And then, this time, in the final and most important category, the presenters were given the wrong envelope.
It gets better. Warren Beatty looked confused and hesitated for so long that his co-presenter, Faye Dunaway, assumed he was trying to make a laboured and wholly unfunny joke. He showed her the card. She barely looked at it before announcing with huge confidence that La La Land had won. We all have Faye Dunaways in our lives: people with such self-belief that they make us feel correspondingly awkward and unsure. But Faye was wrong. Indecision and hesitation can be good qualities and, while I’ve never held a candle for Warren Beatty, I felt like giving him a cheer.
Finally, as with every feel-good movie, there was a happy ending. The teams behind La La Land and Moonlight were gracious in their reaction to the amended announcement. Perfect!
So now, next time I fail to back up an important document or leave plane tickets in the Heathrow car park – Thank you, dear taxi driver for getting me there and back in time to catch my plane – I shall remind myself that we all make mistakes. Human beings – all human beings – are fallible. Hallelujah!
Debby Holt | Author 