Today I wanted to reminisce about one of the most iconic things that you'd ever see on television. Yet, it's not from a film, nor a TV show. Instead, I wanted to take a moment to think back to Sally Field's Academy Award acceptance speech in 1984. She has just won the 'Actress in a Leading' role category, and she absolutely lit up our screens. She smiled, she cried, she paused, and she showed us a real sense of rawness which we only seem to see these days in the films. The words, quite simply: 'You like me... you like me'.
You see, I wasn't quite born when this speech was delivered, but over my years, I've come across this short excerpt a number of times - and whenever I hear the name 'Sally Field', the only film I can think of is Mrs Doubtfire - not that I remember her performance from that, she was no Robin Williams, but her immortal words in this speech ring in my ears.
As corny as this sounds, when I've felt appreciated or have won something in my own life, I've muttered these lines in my head (because let's face it, a real person in a real setting probably wouldn't have the same effect as Ms Field on stage).
These words, 'You like me,... you like me' have transcended time - and belong as much to Hollywood as any catchphrase from a film. Yet, I wonder, if young people today will ever get to see it? She's not on TikTok (gosh, I hope not, I'm not on there to check) - and let's face it, she's no longer on the top of the A-List - but it would be a shame for this speech to be forgotten.
This screen clipping below is from the Academy Awards site. You'll see, the speech she gave was incredibly short, but it captures the sentiment that she feels accepted - 'You like me'.
I think this captures something of the challenge of anyone - whether famous or not, the small insecurity inside of us which has a need for acceptance. The emotion that flows out from Sally Field in this short piece is nothing short of worthy of its own Academy Award.
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Have a look at the Academy Awards acceptance speech here:
I hope I may have been able to stoke in you a memory, to keep alive these most sincere and beautiful words.
Isn't it funny, most of us think of the lines as, 'You like me, you really, really like me' - but they wern't her words, that phrase was something which came after, as a sort of cultural reference.