Award show season has come and gone, ending with the 92nd Academy Awards that aired this past Sunday, February 9th. It was the second year in a row with no host and if I’m being honest, I didn’t mind it. Everything flowed naturally, there weren’t any continuous awkward bits of jokes from the same person, and it didn’t feel like anything was really missing. I do have to note that it’s no secret that the Academy Awards is rather full of controversy, and well, white men. The Academy has come under fire for a lot within the past decade due to a lack of diversity in their nominees, but it can’t go without mentioning that the actual panel of voters in The Academy lacks diversity as well. The vast majority of The Academy is white and so are the staggeringly large amount of actors, actresses, directors and films that they nominate (91 percent of panelists were white in 2016). The same old stories are being selected because of a narrow point of view that most of the selection panel has. According to The Atlantic, the male population of the Academy dominates the number of women on the panel as well (76 percent male in 2016), shrinking the global perspective even more.
However, this year is a year that couldn’t be ignored in my book. Many phenomenal actors, actresses, producers, directors, and many more have been nominated for such outstanding work. I took my time to watch all the best picture nominees and I’ll never get the time I spent watching The Irishman back.Â
I started my night by watching the red carpet live on E! and I have to say that almost no one’s fashion sense disappointed me –except Kelly Ripa’s and Gal Gadot’s. Billy Porter served everything that we needed. Greta Gerwig looked elegant. Billie Eilish rocked it with her unique look. This was probably the best dressed Oscars that I’ve ever seen.Â
Janelle Monae kicked off the show with a tribute to Mister Rogers. She sang the iconic theme song to the A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood star, Tom Hanks and walked through the audience. She then followed with an original song dedicated to the Oscars with dancers in the background dressed in iconic outfits from the nominated films, as well as Midsommar and Us. Billy Porter then proceeded to sing “I’m Still Standing” with the beautiful singer. The incredible performance ended with a well deserved standing ovation.Â
Steve Martin and Chris Rock then took the stage to crack jokes at current news and call out the iconic stars for their talent and films. They also called out how many females were snubbed of nominations, which I truly appreciated. They then brought out Regina King, who announced the winner of best supporting actor, Brad Pitt.Â
Beanie Feldstein (my love) then came on stage to bring out Mindy Kaling to announce the best animated film, Toy Story 4 and the best animated short film, Hair Love. Josh Gad then came on the stage to crack jokes about Frozen 2 and to present his co-star, Idina Menzel, who performed “Into the Unknown” with other singers, who internationally dubbed Elsa’s voice.Â
Kelly Marie Tran presented Keanu Reeves and Diane Keaton, who then presented the nominees for best original screenplay. Parasite won! It was so well deserved and I can’t express my happiness for the Asian representation on my screen. Then, a dynamic duo came on stage – Natalie Portman and Timothee Chalamet. They presented the nominees for best adapted screenplay, with Taika Waititi taking the Oscar home. Then, Shia LaBeouf came on stage and I dropped my phone out of shock. I just did not expect him to be there. Him and his Peanut Butter Falcon co-star, Zack Gottsagen, presented the winner for live action short film, The Neighbors’ Window.Â
Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig took the stage to display their anger for the best director nominees in the most comedic way possible. They then presented the nominees for best production design, with Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood taking the win. They then sang before presenting the nominees for best costume design, leaving me with a smile on my face – Little Women won, leaving me with an even bigger smile on my face!Â
Best supporting actress was presented by Mahershala Ali, and taken home by Laura Dern! Her performance in Marriage Story completely swept me off of my feet. I was equally rooting for Florence Pugh, who I think should have gotten a best actress nomination for Midsommar… but I digress.Â
What most confused me during the ceremony was Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” performance. I still don’t know why he was there or why he got a standing ovation. It completely caught me off guard and put Martin Scorsese to sleep.Â
Parasite took its second award home for best international feature and I practically jumped out of my seat. Also, when Bong Joon-Ho won best director for the film’s third award, he received a standing ovation from the audience and myself. You could tell Hollywood had fallen in love with Bong Joon-Ho by the immense amount of applause and cheers every time he went onstage.Â
Best actor was won unsurprisingly by Joaquin Phoenix for his impeccable performance in Joker. He took the time to address animal rights and the state of humanity. Renee Zellweger took best actress for the Judy Garland biopic, Judy.
For the final award of the night, Jane Fonda presented the best picture award to the well-deserving Parasite. I couldn’t believe it! I tried so hard not to scream past quiet hours. It historically became the first foreign-language film to win the night’s top award. It was quite a special moment for Asian filmmakers and moviegoers.