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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Michael Sun

The slap, the fallout and a little dog: standout 2022 Oscars memes and reactions

James Bond Will Smith Chris Rock Jamie Lee Curtis Kelly Slater Shaun White Tony Hawk Betty White Jacob Elordi Jada Pinkett Smith
Jamie Lee Curtis holds a dog at the Academy Awards.
Jamie Lee Curtis holds a dog at the Academy Awards. Photograph: Rob Latour/REX/Shutterstock

The slap

It was an eventful Oscars ceremony which included two chaotic fan-voted categories, the return of the red carpet – finally – and a tiny dog in attendance. But one moment overshadowed the rest, casting a shadow on the remainder of the proceedings: a violent outburst from Will Smith after comedian Chris Rock made a joke about the appearance of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

“Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me,” Rock said, visibly shaken.

The incident was bleeped out in the US, but clips from both Japanese and Australian TV quickly flooded social media.

Smith won best actor for his performance in King Richard later in the night, apologising for his actions – though not all were convinced. “I want to be a vessel for love,” he said, minutes after hitting someone on camera.

Perhaps most egregiously, the slap eclipsed a pint-size pooch, seen gazing forlornly from Jamie Lee Curtis’ arms during a Betty White tribute.

Fan flop

Among the choices made by the Oscars in a bid to maximise flailing viewership was the inclusion of two fan-voted categories. One of these, the Oscars Cheer Moment, elicited exactly zero cheers for its winner: “The Flash enters the speed force from Zack Snyder’s Justice League”.

What is Cheer Moment? Where is the speed force? Who is voting for this? All great questions that went unanswered.

Isn’t this … an awards show?

Another strange move by the Academy also attracted an outpouring of anger: its decision to hand out many of its technical awards – including production design, editing, original score and sound – before the show began. Winners were instead announced on the Oscars Twitter account, then – in an even stranger move – celebrated in pre-recorded segments during the ceremony itself.

If this year has taught us anything, it’s that the Oscars remains allergic to audiences’ real desires (to see awards) in favour of chasing clout (from Snyder stans).

Chalamet shirt-off

It turns out all we needed to hook into the Oscars was the reinstating of the red carpet – and the coterie of young heartthrobs it brought along with it. The Power of the Dog lead Kodi Smit-McPhee showed off his best powder blue; Dune lead Timothée Chalamet – who starred in the multiple award-winning Dune – showed skin; Euphoria actor Jacob Elordi showed … us to our seats?

Red carpet gatecrashers

But Smit-McPhee and Elordi weren’t alone on the red carpet. They were also accompanied – at least in many, many Photoshopped efforts which floated across Twitter – by intertextual friends near and far, including everyone from Dune’s sandworm to Baby Annette (who was snubbed).

Bond gets gnarly

In classic producer hijinks, a segment celebrating the 60th anniversary of James Bond was presented by a dynamic trio of Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater and Shaun White. In case you are wondering what this group of professional skateboarders and surfers have to do with the famously suave spy, the answer is: nothing.

Two thumbs up

And finally, this gift of a reaction image: Nicole Kidman cosplaying a parent at their kid’s school recital. Keep going Oscars, you’re doing great sweetie!

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