The 2016 Oscars will forever go down surrounded by the controversies about diversity and the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, which caused various members of the film community to protest attending the Oscars. Host Chris Rock, came out right away and started the jokes about race, mentioning that black people in the 1960’s could have cared less about the Oscars back then because they had bigger problems on their hands. Then he went in on Jade Pinkett Smith and said, “Everyone went mad. Jada said she’s not coming, protesting. Isn’t she on a TV show? Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties — I wasn’t invited.” Ohh that was a low blow for Jada.
From there it was a never ending barrage of jokes on why black people hate, don’t care, and want nothing to do with the Oscars. To be honest with you guys, I was so over it, after about 15 minutes it stopped being funny and it just became almost annoying. It made me think well if you are going to complain about the lack of black people in film, what about all the other races out there who are not represented in Hollywood? Regardless, Chris Rock did do a good job and I found the Oscars to be somewhat entertaining.
Let’s talk about what went down and recap the best, worst, and most interesting moments of the night.
1.Chris Rock as host. I will call it a winning performance by a black comedian and he succeeded at making his predominately white audience feel uncomfortable. I don’t know if I should put this under best, worst, or interesting?
2.Stacey Dash UGH. What the hell was that? She came out on stage for like 2 minutes and said something odd about happy Black History month. What was the last movie she was in? Clueless in 1997? Umm, get off the stage. BOO!
3. Mad Max: Fury Road won 6 awards, all for technical categories and they were aptly deserved. Bravo!
4. Chris Rock did his pizza moment like Ellen and made the audience buy Girl Scout cookies from his daughter’s troop. That was really cute and he had the star-studded audience taking out their one hundred dollar bills because honestly I doubt they had any one’s on them. He later revealed they raised $65,243 dollars and mentioned most of it was probably purchased by the tied up in a prison jumpsuit, Suge Knight (yes it was the actor from Straight Outta Compton).
5. When Louis C.K. presented the award for Best Documentary Short film. His suit looked too big on him, like he bought it for an interview and didn’t have it tailored. He then joked that the people who make these films do it for the love of telling an important story, because let’s be honest they don’t make a cent off these films. He said, “This Oscar is going home in a Honda Civic. … It’s going to give them anxiety to keep it in their crappy apartment.” That was funny, but kind of sad considering they are in a room filled with millionaires.
6. Chris Rock went into a Compton movie theater and asked people about Oscar nominated films. When asked if they had seen The Big Short, Spotlight and Bridge of Spies, people were confused and shocked and didn’t even think these films existed. But they did all have one thing in common they all saw Straight Outta Compton and loved it. I think this segment once again solidified the mood of the night, that the movies black people enjoy were omitted from the Oscars race. We get it.
7. Ennio Morricone won for Best Original Score for The Hateful Eight. At 87, he finally won after being nominated various times in the past. He came on stage with his interpreter and gave a moving speech thanking Quentin Tarantino, his late wife, and gave praise to fellow nominee John Williams. He also said, “There isn’t a great soundtrack without a great movie that inspires it.” Well said, it was truly a sweet and moving moment and he deserved it.
9. Jared Leto in his black Gucci suit with red piping and a floral pin. No one else can pull off this look. No one. Be forewarned, he has pulled off the man bun with ease, long flowing hair, and now this, normal men don’t try this at home.
10. Mark Rylance won for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Bridge of Spies. I think no one was more surprised than him.
11. Two words. Tom Hardy. Forget about everything else. I was sad that he didn’t win for Best Supporting Actor, honestly I was rooting for him, not just because he is gorgeous, but his performance was the most memorable to me. Oh well, he’s still super hot and he did not disappoint last night. Sigh.
12. Alejandro González Iñárritu for the Best Director win! Bravo. I was happy to see him win for the second year in a row, what a feat! A win for diversity, but no one mentioned any of that.
12. When BB-8 rolled on stage with his droid homies C-3PO and R2-D2. They paid tribute to Star Wars composer John Williams and gleefully admired the golden statue. That was seriously cute and a definite highlight.
13. FINALLY Leonardo DiCaprio won his Oscar! He won Best Actor for his tremendous role in The Revenant. His speech was heartfelt and moving, he thanked his parents, Martin Scorsese, co-star Tom Hardy, and friends. He then discussed climate change and urged people to wake up and take notice of what is happening in the world. It didn’t come off as preachy at all and I think it worked with his speech. He ended by saying, “Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted.”
14. Spotlight took home the Best Picture Oscar and I think a lot of people had mixed feelings on this one. I think it had to win in a way considering the gravity of the film’s subject. I was rooting for The Revenant and I know some of my fellow movie buffs wanted Room and Mad Max: Fury Road to win, but I guess no one ever comes out of this category completely pleased with the results. Regardless of who your favorite was, the message behind Spotlight is a powerful one and producer Michael Sugar said “This film gave a voice to survivors and this Oscar amplifies that voice. We hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican. Pope Francis, it’s time to protect the children and restore the faith.”
15. And finally the closing music. The song that played as the credits rolled was Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” and it ended the night on the note Chris Rock began on, which was to use his position to take a stance on the lack of diversity and opportunities for black people in Hollywood. Again, I believe Chris Rock should have used this platform to talk about not just black people, but all other races.
I know I missed a bunch of moments and things that happened, the thank you scroll, the Amy documentary film win, Tracey Morgan doing the Danish Girl bit, Saoirse Ronan and her beautiful dress, Alicia Vikander’s win, etc, but then we’d be here forever. What did you guys think of the show? So much went down and I am curious to hear everyone’s thoughts.
And finally Brie Larson ended the night perfectly with a burger, chucks, and an Oscar.
}}Melissa
