Positive moments from the Academy Awards
It seems like every year, there is a moment from the Academy Awards that goes viral and the entire country ends up talking about it on Monday morning. In the past, there was the famous group selfie with Ellen Degeneres, John Travolta said, “Adele Dazeem” and “La La Land” was announced as the best picture before it was revealed that the actual winner was “Moonlight.” Perhaps the most viral Oscars moment ever occurred last week, when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock.
While people make jokes about moments like these, these events take away from the purpose of the event — to honor the films that have entertained and touched people over the past year. This year, the award winners broke barriers and the Academy began to give marginalized groups the recognition they deserve.
One such winner was Ariana DeBose, who won the Academy Award for best actress in a supporting role for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” Rita Moreno won the same award 60 years ago for the same role in the original film adaptation, becoming the first Hispanic woman to win an Oscar. At 90 years old, she sat in the audience and appeared emotional as she watched DeBose become the first openly queer woman of color to win an Oscar.
In an emotional acceptance speech, DeBose had a message for people like her: “to anybody who’s ever questioned your identity ever, ever, ever, or you find yourself living in the gray spaces, I promise you this: there is indeed a place for us.”
Another emotional moment came when Troy Kotsur became the first deaf performer to win an Academy Award in the best supporting actor category for his role as the father in “CODA,” which stands for child of deaf adults. “CODA” is about a young girl who is the only member of her family with the ability to hear. He is not the first deaf actor to ever win an Oscar though; that achievement belongs to actress Marlee Matlin, his co-star in the film.
As he made his way to the stage to accept the award, the audience signed applause by waving their hands. He signed his acceptance speech while an interpreter spoke for him, and like DeBose, acknowledged others in his community: “This is dedicated to the Deaf community, the CODA community and the disabled community. This is our moment.” This shows how the win was not just important for the Deaf community, but for anyone with a disability who very rarely see themselves represented within Hollywood.
In recent years, people have begun to point out how most film directors are men, and how it is rare for women to be nominated for, or even win, best director at the Oscars and other award shows. However, this year marked the first time the directing award has gone to a woman in back-to-back years. Last year, filmmaker Chloe Zhao won for “Nomadland,” and this year the award went to Jane Campion for “The Power of the Dog,” suggesting that there are positive changes being made in the film industry.
The award that Chris Rock presented brought another inspiring moment that the slap overshadowed. Rock announced that the award for Best Documentary Feature went to “Summer of Soul,” which showed never-before-seen footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, nicknamed “Black Woodstock.” This festival did not earn the same recognition as Woodstock despite having 300,000 people in attendance and featuring big names like Stevie Wonder. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the director of the documentary, stated in his acceptance speech that, “This is not about me, this is about marginalized people in Harlem that needed to heal from pain.”
If I’m being honest, I did not watch the Oscars live, and I have only seen three of the ten films that were nominated for Best Picture. I am by no means a cinephile, but I appreciate the fact that films are a major part of our culture and our lives. The people who have moved us with their films deserve their recognition. I am more frustrated by internet culture than I am by Will Smith and Chris Rock because the infamous slap went viral, rather than all of these positive moments.
