On Sunday, February 28, ABC broadcasted the 88th annual Academy Awards. If you’re like me, then you watched the Oscars last night, tweeted and retweeted about it and then changed your cover photo to your favorite actress. If you’re not like me, then here’s a recap of what went on Sunday night at The Academy Awards.
Chris Rock’s Opening Monologue
Nothing was too controversial for Chris Rock on Sunday night. The Oscar host started off by calling it the “White People’s Choice Awards” and then continued to highlight the unfairness of having an all-white Oscars. He pointed out that some told him to quit the hosting gig, even calling out Jada Pinkett-Smith and Spike Lee and said that “boycotting the Oscars was like [Rock] boycotting Rihanna’s panties…I wasn’t invited”. But in his monologue, he brought up stark images like hanging grandmothers and black people getting shot on their way to the movies. Not only did he point out race issues, he brought up gender issues, stating that men and women don’t even need different acting categories. He perfectly summed up the fact that Hollywood is, in fact, racist. By deeming it “sorority racist,” another way to say they aren’t “burning crosses bad” but are still not casting black actors in top roles. “We want opportunity,” Rock said near the end.
And while Rock did touch on many issues and brought uncomfortableness where uncomfortableness was due, he did miss a huge opportunity to point out inequality for other people of color. Latinos have won a total of 13 Oscars among them, while only one Asian actress has ever won one. While the outrage over complete lack of black nominations stemmed from the fact that there were many movies to choose from this year (Straight Outta Compton, Beasts of No Nation, Creed), Rock’s sentiment on “opportunity” needs to be heard for all people of color.
Stacey Dash
I hate that I am even writing about this woman right now. But last night’s appearance was one of the most talked about. Dash made waves earlier this year, saying that the boycott on the Oscars were “ludicrous” and denouncing the need for Black History Month and channels like BET. So when Chris Rock called out the new “New Director of Minority Outreach” for the Academy, every viewer was shocked to see Dash walk out on stage.
Dash came out, gave an almost menacing laugh, said “I cannot wait to help my people out. Happy Black History Month” and left. The audience was unresponsive and I just sat there repeating, “What is happening?”
Same, Chrissy. Same.
Mad Max Wins (almost) Everything
The movie that made headlines this summer as a feminist action film (and that drove silly MRA’s to boycott) did really well and was well liked by most critics, receiving a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s no wonder that the film received 10 nominations for Sunday night’s show. But it’s crazy how it just kept…on…winning. During the show, I was taking notes on who won what and other events that were happening. After the 2nd time in a row that Mad Max: Fury Road won, my friend said, “Stop writing it down! Just write ‘MAD MAX’ all over the page.” She was not wrong.
Toy Story
A big highlight for any kids (in age or maturity) watching the show was when Buzz Lightyear and Woody presented Best Animated Film. This was to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Toy Story and have the characters announce Inside Out, another Disney Pixar movie, as the winner. They were a definite highlight!
Lady Gaga
By now everyone should know of my genuine love of Lady Gaga. But my immense awe at her performance stemmed from the pure artistry and power behind it. The song “Till It Happens to You” was featured in the documentary The Hunting Ground about sexual assault on college campuses. The song itself, which was written by Gaga and Diane Warren, holds special meaning for both writers as Gaga was raped at the age of 19 and Warren was molested at the age of 12.
Vice President Joe Biden introduced the act, turning everyone’s attention to the White House’s initiative to end sexual assault and the rape culture behind it, entitled the “It’s On Us” campaign. “A pledge that says I will intervene in situations where consent has not and cannot be given,” said Biden. “They did nothing wrong,” he went on to say, referring to any victim of sexual assault.
Gaga’s performance alone was heart wrenching. She hit every note and her vibrato was fantastic. The emotion she got from singing that song was plain on her face. But the most compelling part of that performance were the survivors that flooded the stage. They were made up of different races, ages and sexes.
Members of the audience were visibly crying, like Rachel McAdams, Kate Winslet and Brie Larson (who gave each survivor a hug after the performance). My friend and I were so still while watching Gaga that the motion sensor lights in our room turned off during the act. Twice.
BEST OF THE BEST
If you watched until the very end (or knew right when to tune in), you saw the biggest awards of the night. Best Picture went to Spotlight, a film surrounding the investigative journalism team at the Boston Globe in the early 2000s, when they uncovered the sexual abuse scandal involving 6% of priests and the subsequent cover-ups from the Boston Archdiocese. The movie starred Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Northwestern’s own Brian d’Arcy James. The producer of the film took this moment to call upon Pope Francis to go after the predators in the church: “Pope Francis, it’s time to protect the children and restore the faith.”
Brie Larson won Best Actress for her role as Joy “Ma” Newsome in Room. The movie focuses on a woman who was kidnapped, raped and had a child, Jack, played by Jacob Tremblay. The movie has had rave reviews since it premiered and Larson has skyrocketed to stardom. Although she has been around awhile, this was her first Oscar nomination. Larson has been slaying the award show circuit this year as well, winning every major award she was up for in her role in Room, including a SAG award, Golden Globe, Critic’s Choice Movie Award, BAFTA award and the Academy Award she received on Sunday.
However, the biggest winner of them all was, of course, Leonardo DiCaprio. The internet has been taken over by Leo Oscar memes for months, possibly years, leading up to this Sunday’s win. Leo has never received an Oscar despite his 29 years as an actor. But this year, after going full method actor to portray Hugh Glass in The Revenant, DiCaprio won his long overdue Oscar. In his speech, he called upon others to be more conscious of the earth and the harm we are doing to it as well as urging viewers to vote for candidates who didn’t “speak for the big polluters or big corporations, but who speak for all of humanity…” Some took it to be an endorsement for Bernie Sanders. While that could be true, I was too busy crying from happiness to really notice.