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Our lead critics reflect on an Oscar night going as expected—until it just doesn’t happen.
AO SCOTT “The greatest night in television history,” Chris Rock said seconds after Will Smith slapped him. Not bad (so to speak). But until then—and Smith’s tearful, unrehearsed acceptance speech when he soon won the best actor award—it had been a dull and frustrating evening of television. There are few surprises in any category (except when belfast won for the original script). Sentimentality that triumphs over the craft (except when Jane Campion won best director). A gnawing feeling that the academy doesn’t understand the movies and even hates them.
MANOHLA DARGIS Bingo! I don’t think the academy and its roughly 10,000 members hate movies; they just sometimes have really awful taste like everybody else but you and me. However, as a TV show, I think the Oscars absolutely despise art, as highlighted by the unfunny jokes about the hosts not finishing “The Power of the Dog.”
SCOTT The slap didn’t make any of that go away, but it did distract Twitter, who was reeling from what it meant. We can get to it (or not!), but for now I want to stick with the question of what kind of television this is. American viewers didn’t actually see it on their screens. When the image froze, I thought my laptop had crashed, and it was only when people started streaming uncensored video from Australian and Japanese broadcasts that everyone here realized what had happened. During Smith’s speech, the cameras cut out Venus and Serena Williams, and then the Oscar logo. Here was a spontaneous, complex, emotionally intense moment – offering more raw and painful human drama than “CODA”, “Belfast” and “King Richard” put together – and ABC just couldn’t handle it.
DARGIS To be unusually fair about my favorite hate-watching, ABC wasn’t alone in coping. Initially, when ABC stopped Smith’s scolding of The Rock, I thought the jerky antenna I used on the rare occasions when I was watching the television broadcast had failed. Like many people, I don’t watch as much traditional TV as I once did, which is part of the show’s and ABC’s thorny problem. It was not surprising that the network or the Oscar producers, or both, were discouraged as they had already failed to present some of the major awards live.
SCOTT The way the “below the line” awards were sent to an earlier pre-release ceremony and then added to the main event was ridiculous. Are the acceptance speeches of cinematographers and costume designers more telegenic in nature than those of composers and editors? As it happens, Jenny Beavan, who won her third costume Oscar (for “Cruella”), was glamorous, real, and fun, and her celebration of craft and professionalism represents the best of the Oscars. So are the prominent honorary awards held on Friday night. Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson hugging and Washington threw each other at each other as they presented Jackson with his trophy. Why doesn’t the TV audience want to see this?
DARGIS Even so, this year’s event started off pretty well, especially given the horrific world events. Regina Hall, one of the three presenters, deftly dealt with administering fake Covid tests to some of the men in the room, even while she was focused behind the camera. It was a silly Oscar bullshit—surprise—but as it continued (and continued), I kept thinking about the fact that the United States alone was approaching a million pandemic deaths. I’m not sure how the show can address the heavy toll of Covid, but asking for a moment of silence from everything – as it is made with ukraine – it could have been worse.
Of course now all the focus is on the embarrassing and very sad slap. Smith seems to be going through such a complex process as to sabotage his own victory. As for the rest of the show, it lacked dramatic shape and momentum, in part because these off-the-shelf awards would have added more tension and emotion to the live event. There was no buildup, just lice… and an obituary musical number. Among other things, the show didn’t give audiences a consistent focus like when Jack Nicholson or Meryl Streep sat front and center representing the arts and industry, a place that should be reserved for Denzel Washington this year. who looked very uncomfortable in that chair.
SCOTT Endless handshake before the Oscars how to increase ratings and making the show more relevant demonstrates a lack of confidence that was so overwhelming in the evidence last night. The hosts were good. The winning movies were good.
except these stupid “fan” awards. In a funny way, they were kidnapped by the Zack Snyder Twitter militia. The movie’s most memorable moment (of all time? Century? Hard to say) is that scene where the Flash, supposedly from “Justice League,” gets into the Speed Force. And the most popular movie (2021) was “Army of the Dead”, which surpassed other curiosities like “Cinderella” and “Minimata”.
Is this the death of cinema?
DARGIS SO FUNNY. (Also: did you see “minimata”?) While the Oscars reflect certain industry trends, such as a TV show and the transformation of major studios, they don’t have much to do with cinema going well, as you and I keep saying and writing. and hum. When independent films like “Crossing the Waves” and “Secrets and Lies” were nominated in 1997, the Oscars generated lower ratings and angry slurs – “The English Patient” swept, winning best picture – but returned with “Titanic” the following year.
SCOTT The more things change, the more they stay the same. Even worse is the unfortunate journalistic habit of equating the state of the Oscars with the state of the movies. Even when television is great, Emmys are terrible. No one seriously thinks that the bad Grammy Awards mean the death of pop music, or that a given year’s National Book Awards reveal much about the health of literature. But film journalism has elevated the Oscars to a position of ridiculous importance.
DARGIS As an epic-sized ad for movies, the Oscars generally don’t make for good television. That’s kind of funny-strange considering how many movies look like TV, which means it’s time to come up with it. The “CODA” of Apple TV+. It’s hard to believe that if voters were forced to watch it on the big screen, it would have won best picture, and perhaps it would have. It’s a nice little pedestrian heartbeat, so it fits the TV perfectly. It’s the kind of movie we’ve seen over and over at Sundance; but not the kind that inspires his colleagues to proselytize on the matter as they do, for example, “Beasts of Southern savagery“But this is Oscar, right? One year, “Moonlight” wins; Two years later, the “Green Book” wins – and then, boom, “Parasite” wins.
SCOTT “CODA” is the first best film award to premiere at Sundance, as well as the first film to be distributed by a streaming service. It also won all three categories for which it was nominated, none of which were for head performances or technical achievements, making it a fascinating outlier. Their victories – especially Troy Kotsur’s supporting actor winsa great Oscar night moment – part of the academy’s efforts to bring a more diverse, inclusive face to the world.
And it’s worth noting that the 94th Oscars weren’t as white or male as many of their predecessors. For the second year in a row – and for the third time ever – the best director is a woman. The best picture was directed by a (different) woman. Its best documentary feature is the work of a Black filmmaker. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Best Supporting Actress, Ariana DeBoseShe is the first openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar. You and I have been watching Hollywood long enough to be wary of exaggerating its progress or believing its promises, but I’m also wondering if the defensiveness and mistrust surrounding the Oscar broadcast was some sort of backlash.
DARGIS Both Kotsur’s and DeBose’s acceptance speeches were beautiful, and each offered an otherwise awkward, generally awkward three-and-a-half hour pace plus moments of grace during the changeover. As for you wondering if the growing diversity of award winners has sparked a backlash – yes, I bet! The film industry is changing and it is no longer the bastion of white male power as it once was. At the same time, the old guard remains strong, and the Oscars often seem like visions of the industry to be desired rather than reality.
SCOTT Eager and also, as we saw last night, wildly dysfunctional. This is fun!
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