Did Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony achieve its goal, stated earlier this month by academy president David Rubin, to “prioritize the television audience, to increase viewer engagement and keep the show vital, kinetic, and relevant”? Um, be careful what you wish for, Oscar. The 94th annual Oscars, hosted by Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer, was a very strange night, to put it mildly.
Before things began, it seemed like we’d be talking about “The Power of the Dog” and about the academy’s strange decision to present eight of the categories in a pre-show, not showing them live. Instead, we ended up talking about “CODA” winning best picture, about a bizarre incident in which Will Smith seemed to punch Chris Rock in the face, and about the academy’s decision to prioritize comedy bits and “fan favorite” Twitter votes over the actual awards. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, director of “Drive My Car,” nearly had his speech cut off after winning best international film; however, there seemed to be plenty of time to visit the Academy Museum with Sykes, to watch Schumer dangle from the ceiling as Spider-Man, and for numerous celebrity presenters to natter on at length. (I think Kevin Costner, presenting best director, might still be speaking.)
The ceremony felt endless, full of weird moments and odd decisions. Smith’s expected win, for best actor for “King Richard,” was marred by the incident with Rock, seemingly brought about by a tasteless joke made by Rock about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. The aftermath of the moment — was it a staged bit? Or an actual moment of anger? — seemed to linger, sucking the air out of a room that seemed increasingly airless. In his rambling acceptance speech, a weeping Smith apologized to the academy and to his fellow nominees, but noted that Richard Williams, the character he played in the film, was “a fierce defender of his family,” and that “love will make you do crazy things.”
