Oscars Best Picture blunder drowned out an overwhelmingly political ceremony – how apt
28th February 2017
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Julie Lobalzo Wright, University of Warwick
This was supposed to be the most political Academy Awards in history. One man was expected to overshadow the ceremony: and not the gold one that stands 8½ inches tall.
The individuals who did not pepper their speeches with calls for love and acceptance became more notable than those who did. First winner of the night, Mahershala Ali, who delivered a stirring speech at the Screen Actors Guild awards last month about acceptance, didn’t replicate this for the Oscars; nor did Casey Affleck say anything remotely political (this may have been due to recent controversy surrounding him and sexual harassment allegations). But from animators to make-up and hair stylists, everyone else added their personal voice to the crowd cheering for inclusivity and tolerance.
But, then, Warren Beatty was given the wrong envelope (the envelope for Best Actress, won by Emma Stone from La La Land earlier in the evening), looked a bit confused, and handed it to co-presenter Faye Dunaway, who announced that La La Land won Best Picture. Cue the la la music, hugs, cheers, and the entire La La Land team up on the stage. But then, after a few minutes of speeches, it was stated on-stage that Moonlight had actually won. To clear up any doubt, the correct envelope and card was displayed for a crucial close-up.
La La Moonlight
There have been Best Picture surprise winners in the past (this was especially the case in 1998 when Shakespeare in Love triumphed over Saving Private Ryan). But never has there been a gaff as momentous as presenting the wrong people with an Oscar. There has been a persistent rumour that Marissa Tomei, Supporting Actress winner in 1993 for My Cousin Vinny, was incorrectly given the award by Jack Palance. But this was denied by the Academy, and if a mistake had been made, a representative from PwC, who count the votes, would have stepped on stage and cleared up the confusion, as we found out on Sunday night. The slip up was particularly apt considering the two films. Expected Best Picture winner, La La Land, has become a lightning rod for debates about its merit in these politically charged times. Some defend the musical love story as a welcome return to old-fashioned musical nostalgia, an invocation simply to feel, while others thought the film indicative of the posturing and posing, the fakery of the age.- Article continues below...
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A ceremony for our times
Despite this, the overwhelming politicism of this year’s awards were drowned out by the slip up. The annual Hollywood event has not been immune to political sentiments or speeches in the past. Most point to Marlon Brando’s 1973 refusal to accept his Academy Award – sending actress and president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee, Sacheen Littlefeather, in his place to discuss the plight of Native Americans – as the point when the Oscars and politics really came together. But since then, each political speech has generally been met with widespread criticism, eliciting comments about the inappropriateness of Hollywood elites remarking on political contexts that rarely impact their own lives. The glittering fantasy of the ceremony certainly appears at odds with the socio-political reality of countless viewers. This year, something seemed to have shifted. Politics was no longer an aside at the end of a self-congratulatory speech, or deemed difficult to swallow given the privileged audience in the Dolby Theatre (although it did feel slightly patronising when Kimmell paraded in “real people” from a Hollywood bus tour and had them, awkwardly, interact with the celebrities in attendence). This year, politics suffused the lead up to the awards, and the ceremony itself. So it is somehow appropriately ironic, given the political climate, that this has been overtaken by a blunder from an accounting firm. This year’s Oscars provided audiences with both glitz and glamour, and sombre reality, just like the two films that were announced as Best Picture winners. These two films accurately reflect the paradoxes our times. Julie Lobalzo Wright, Teaching Fellow in Film Studies, University of Warwick This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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