Did Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony achieve its goal, stated earlier this month by academy president David Rubin, to “prioritize the television audience, to increase viewer engagement and keep the show vital, kinetic, and relevant”? Um, be careful what you wish for, Oscar. The 94th annual Oscars, hosted by Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer, was a very strange night, to put it mildly.
Before things began, it seemed like we’d be talking about “The Power of the Dog” and about the academy’s strange decision to present eight of the categories in a pre-show, not showing them live. Instead, we ended up talking about “CODA” winning best picture, about a bizarre incident in which Will Smith seemed to punch Chris Rock in the face, and about the academy’s decision to prioritize comedy bits and “fan favorite” Twitter votes over the actual awards. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, director of “Drive My Car,” nearly had his speech cut off after winning best international film; however, there seemed to be plenty of time to visit the Academy Museum with Sykes, to watch Schumer dangle from the ceiling as Spider-Man, and for numerous celebrity presenters to natter on at length. (I think Kevin Costner, presenting best director, might still be speaking.)
The ceremony felt endless, full of weird moments and odd decisions. Smith’s expected win, for best actor for “King Richard,” was marred by the incident with Rock, seemingly brought about by a tasteless joke made by Rock about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The aftermath of the moment — was it a staged bit? Or an actual moment of anger? — seemed to linger, sucking the air out of a room that seemed increasingly airless. In his rambling acceptance speech, a weeping Smith apologized to the academy and to his fellow nominees, but noted that Richard Williams, the character he played in the film, was “a fierce defender of his family,” and that “love will make you do crazy things.”
Much time was spent, before the Oscars, debating the academy’s controversial decision to award eight of the categories — the three short film categories, hair/makeup, film editing, original score, production design and sound — before the televised ceremony. This actually played out even more awkwardly than predicted: the categories were clumsily edited into the program, complete with all names of all nominees and acceptance speeches (partial speeches for some categories) — meaning that the amount of time saved was minuscule. Maybe there was another way, academy, to save a few minutes without insulting a significant portion of your membership? The irony was that the show ended up being significantly longer than last year’s — which presented all of the awards live, with full speeches.
And the presence of Rachel Zegler, star of “West Side Story,” who basically had to beg for her ticket on social media, stood as another rebuke. Why did the academy wait until a few days before the ceremony to invite Zegler, a glowing new star and the heart of Spielberg’s film, to present?
It was a night of mixed results: a small-scale family drama won best picture, but “Dune” easily won the most awards of the night, with six. Jane Campion became only the third woman to win an Oscar for directing, for “The Power of the Dog,” but the film won no other awards. Jessica Chastain won best actress, her first Oscar, for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” which also won for makeup/hairstyle. Screenwriting awards went to Kenneth Branagh for “Belfast” (original screenplay, and Branagh’s first Oscar after eight nominations spread out over more than 30 years) and Sian Heder for “CODA” (adapted screenplay).
In between awards, numerous anniversaries were observed, with montages or cast reunions: James Bond turned 70, “The Godfather” turned 50, “White Men Can’t Jump” turned 30, “Juno” turned 15, and I turned, oh, 100 or so.
And yet, within all the controversy and nonsense and filler, there were a few — just a few — of those moments that those of us who love the Oscars tune in for. I won’t soon forget Rita Moreno’s gaze — rapt and breathless — as she watched Ariana DeBose accept her award for best supporting actress for “West Side Story,” in the same role for which Moreno won her Oscar 60 years ago. DeBose lovingly acknowledged Moreno, and spoke of her own younger self: a queer Latina girl who “found her strength through art.” Paraphrasing the lyrics of “Somewhere,” she concluded her speech with a quietly joyful, “There is indeed a place for us.”
Troy Kotsur, who won best supporting actor for “CODA” (becoming only the second Deaf actor to win an Oscar), spoke in sign language, as presenter Joon-Yuh Jung held his statuette for him. He spoke movingly of his father — “the best signer in our family” — who was paralyzed in a car accident and became unable to sign, and dedicated his award to “the Deaf community, the CODA community, the disabled community — this is our moment.”
And the fashion, as always, was a kick. Among the more offbeat choices: Timothee Chalamet’s shirtlessness, Kristen Stewart’s formal Chanel shorts, Nicole Kidman’s enormous peplum (which looked like it might be handy for smuggling snacks). But gorgeous gowns of red and gold — most notably, Kristen Dunst in the former, Lupita Nyong’o in the latter — shone, and Ariana DeBose’s glorious red cape, worn with matching trousers and corset top, deserved a supporting Oscar of its own.
Perhaps these Oscars will be a turning point — an opportunity for the academy to finally decide to stop sabotaging itself and just celebrate the nominated films and the industry, with joy and dignity. Or perhaps not. More likely, it’ll be remembered for a remarkable level of awkwardness and strangeness (did I mention how strangely upbeat the “In Memorium” section was?), and for being an astonishingly long night.
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