You may have heard about the story of a small Christian film whose title song was nominated by Academy of Motion Picture members for an oscar, only to have that nomination taken away because the filmmakers engaged in prohibited promotion of the film.
Somehow, it came to the attention of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that Bruce Broughton, the veteran movie music man who co-wrote “Alone Yet Not Alone,” had sent out 70 emails to members of the academy urging them to listen to his song before they voted on nominees. Academy governors ruled that this was improper campaigning and took the extremely rare step of revoking the nomination.
Never before had a nominee been dumped for improper campaigning. Broughton and others were shocked and outraged. Why had the Academy come down so hard on this small faith-based film when, year after year, the big studios spend millions of dollars on all kinds of promotions to make sure their films, their actors, their directors and their songs get attention from Oscar voters?
The problem is that this is the way many films are promoted to the academy. Is this a case of bigotry against Christians? It remains to be seen.
In the mean time, I thought it would be more productive to share the song itself. This song, Alone Yet Not Alone, is song by Joni Eareckson Tada.
If you don’t know about Joni, she has been a quadriplegic since being injured in a diving accident as a teen. She is very amazing. She is a speaker and radio show host. She even has painted wonderful paintings using her mouth!
You may not realize that in order to sing well, a singer needs to use the diaphragm in order to sing the more difficult notes. A quadriplegic does not have the control of the diaphragm needed to sing well. Joni needs the help of her husband, who pushes on her diaphragm for her, to sing.
Enjoy the YouTube video of her recording the song and be sure to share it with others. Also, if you like the song, buy it on iTunes or Amazon.
