At the 88th Academy Awards, on Sunday February 28th, Lady Gaga took our breath away with an emotional performance of “Til It Happens to You”. The song was the theme for the critically acclaimed CNNFilm’s documentary The Hunting Ground. The film is a documentary about rape victims of large universities across the country and their fight against a system that is more concerned with protecting their reputation than it is with protecting it’s students. The film wants to bring the truth to the light, regarding the harsh realities of school administrators instructing the individuals who are trying to report a rape, that they need to keep it to themselves and not take their claims to the police, because that will only make the situation worse. See the trailer below:
With that harsh reality in mind, it brings a new light to Gaga’s performance. Her powerful performance brings the audience to tears and to its feet. Not only did Gaga make a statement about her support for those victims, various individuals who have been victims of rape joined her on stage at the end of her performance, giving a look at just a handful of young men and woman who are raped each year. Sadly, Gaga did not win the award for “Best Original Song”, but this will be the performance remembered from this night. Sam Smith’s “Writings on the Wall” from Spectre won the award for the night, but Gaga and The Hunting Ground have our attention today. If all you got was a lot of Race controversy from last nights Oscar’s, look again, because this right here is just as important as race equality in films.
You can see Lady Gaga’s performance below:
Photo Credit: Getty Images via Vogue.com
