And the Oscar Goes to…

REPRESENTATION

It goes to all the kids and adults who always wanted to be a superhero but felt like they never could be.

And the Oscar Goes to…

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse winning the Oscar for Best Animated Film was a win for all of us. It was a win for the Latino community, the black community and everyone in between.

This win was important for me, a Puerto Rican and Black girl, to see a kid who represents me, win for all of us.

Miles Morales and his story as Spider-Man is the movie I never knew I needed. As I sat down in that movie theater and watched, I was almost in tears because I finally saw my family on the big screen.

While accepting the award at the Oscars, Phil Lord celebrated what the representation in the movie meant for many. “When we hear that somebody’s kid was watching the movie and turned to them and said, ‘He looks like me,’ or ‘They speak Spanish like us,’ we feel like we already won.” I was that kid. My brother was that kid. And it means the world to us.

The Stan Lee quote at the end of the film says it all:

“That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero.”

WE ARE SUPERHEROES.