One of the most embarrassing moments in Academy Awards history was the La La Land/Moonlight Best Picture mixup during the 2017 ceremony. Now, according to Sarah Polley’s 11-year-old daughter, on April Fool’s Day, another mixup like that one has tragically happened, and it involves her mom’s Oscar for Women Talking. So the youngster took it upon herself to inform her mother about the news in the most hilariously savage, well-written April Fool’s Day prank, maybe ever.
Last month, Sarah Polley won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Women Talking. This was such an exciting moment for everyone, especially considering the movie was snubbed in many other categories this year. However, according to Sarah Polley’s daughter (or David Rubin as the letter is “signed”), this was all a mistake, and in actuality, Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front was supposed to win the sought-after writing award. The letter goes on to list off the various reasons why Polley needs to return her gold statue, and it is genuinely hilarious. The Women Talking writer posted the note she received from the version of The Academy that’s run by her young child to Instagram for the world to see:
The entire letter is hysterical, however, one of the highlights is for sure this run-on sentence about why Polley is only now learning about how she should not have been among the 2023 Oscar Winners:
...we should have told you when we realized it, on the night on which the Oscar was given, but you must understand that we did not want another ‘Year of the Moonlight,’ and we also did not want to get all over your local news as the citizens of Toronto would probably be quite irritated, and we do not want this news getting out.
She makes a good point, I'd also assume The Academy wouldn't want another "Year of the Moonlight."
I also enjoyed the self-awareness of the letter, as it noted the fact that Polley recieved it on April Fool’s Day. The meta nature of the note had me laughing out loud, and I love that the 11-year-old felt the need to recognize the “cruel” nature of the date the letter was sent, and was determined to assure her mother “that this is not a joke.”
This humorous prank played on Polley is not only well-written (for a child) but extremely clever, just like her. The witty nature of the note reminded me a lot of the actress-turned-director’s various acceptance speeches from this year, including her Oscars speech, as well as her goofy post on nomination day about her low Oscars expectations. I’d say the director’s 11-year-old got both her mom’s sense of humor and writing abilities. Many other celebs recognized how well-written the note was for a sixth grader too, and said Polley might have a comedy writer on their hands. Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein even retweeted the letter, saying he’d consider the little one for a job:
Would accept this as a writing sample. https://t.co/voCsuFlcc1April 1, 2023
I for one would agree with the Shrinking co-creator, it seems like this little lady might have a future as a comedy writer. However, she’s only 11, so it’ll be a minute before we see her credits on TV. So, for now, we can all enjoy this witty, and savage letter she wrote to her mother about why she needs to return her Oscar.
