Quote #6 - My Favorite Movie Hero (by Benedict Cumberbatch)

Courtesy AMPAS

In preparation for the 2013 Academy Awards telecast, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences ("a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures - Wikipedia) created a gallery of actors who would be presenting Oscars during the telecast. Benedict Cumberbatch would be paired with Jennifer Garner during the program, and, earlier that evening, showed his prowess at making the most of his time on-camera for fun by photobombing U2 on the red carpet.

Curiously enough, the whimsy and welling up we saw on display that night (witness his reaction during the acceptance speech of 12 Years A Slave co-star and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o as Best Supporting Actress), may be all some Americans know about him, until they looked at the Oscars' online gallery of photographs and quotes.

Benedict's quote offers insight into what moves and motivates the actor  - at least to my mind, because it connects his love of art, language, the human spirit - and performing. Given the characters he's chosen to play and the causes he chooses to promote, it seems no coincidence that his favorite hero in film - unlike, say, Kristen Bell's choice of Ace Ventura (for his care of animals) - was someone quite real, quite remarkable and quietly fighting to LIVE, despite circumstances beyond his control.

Robin Williams, Vincent van Gogh & A Spark of Madness by Benedict Cumberbatch

Courtesy BBC

"I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process."

- Vincent van Gogh

Self–Portrait with a Straw Hat 1887 - Metropolitan Museum of Art

 "If I succeed in putting some warmth and love into the work, then it will find friends." -Vincent van Gogh

Recent news reports of untimely celebrity deaths - in light of the suicide of Academy Award winning actor Robin Williams - have also brought Vincent Van Gogh to mind for some: the Picasso painting sent by Disney in an attempt to settle a dispute (in which Picasso painted himself as van Gogh) or, a similarity in personalities (a genius with a touch of madness who found life too difficult) Observations and opinions are flooding website and social media, as well as the sorrow felt by others whenever a brilliant mind, capable of creating vivid images and emotional connections through prose, personality or paint, is - however briefly - unable to cope with living and takes ultimate control by cutting their life short.

Mental health is far too complex an issue to be addressed in a blog such as this. If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with depression or any condition that affects well-being, you know how complicated treatment is, how terrifying it is to be unable to control your thoughts and feelings, how others can misunderstand - and what is unhealthy for you to watch or read.

What we can do here is celebrate the legacy of beautiful minds in strong bodies who kept working, despite the challenges caused by emotional, psychological and/or mental distress. Robin Williams widow  released a statement regarding her husband: " he was brave as he struggled with his own battles of depression, anxiety as well as early stages of Parkinson's Disease, which he was not yet ready to share publicly. It is our hope in the wake of Robin’s tragic passing, that others will find the strength to seek the care and support they need to treat whatever battles they are facing so they may feel less afraid."

"War Horse" - Finding the Words for World War I

Courtesy Dreamworks

“They fight a war and they don't know what for. Isn't that crazy? How can one man kill another and not really know the reason why he does it, except that the other man wears a different color uniform and speaks a different language?” 

― Michael Morpurgo, War Horse

The 100th anniversary of World War I will make news this week, primarily in Europe, as families recall their personal connection to the war, and journalists recount the war's impact on soldiers, families, and animals.

The loss of life - as well as a way of living - is cause for some to mourn, to honor and, even today, speak out against all that is lost, futile and senseless about going into battle.

The thing is - creative people who served and survived the Great War had been doing that for some time, from poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon to composers Maurice Ravel and Ralph Vaughan Williams, as well as authors J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit) and C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia)