The Oscar’s have been maligned for many things: “They’re too long”, “No one’s even seen the Best Picture nominees”, “The host won’t be funny”, “If Leo’s not winning, I’m going to bed”. Year after thankless year these criticisms are levied against the Academy in its putative inability to accurately reflect the interests of “The Average Moviegoer”, to honor the films that people actually care about. As if those allegations aren’t jarring enough on any given year, the familiar flak has been all but eclipsed by the ongoing and widespread allegations of prejudice within the film industry, Hollywood’s behind-the-scenes racism supposedly has been responsible for the lack of diversity among this year’s very pale nominees.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in a move undoubtedly made to appease those disappointed with the #OscarSoWhite controversy, decided to invite edgy stand-up comedian Chris Rock to host. Thankfully enough for both audience and Academy it turned out to be a smart move. The Academy, to its credit, held up a mirror and allowed itself to be subjected to a healthy dose of reality that they may realize how difficult it has become for minorities to penetrate the upper echelons of Hollywood.
Rock’s opening monologue was as funny as it was poignant, even becoming wincingly uncomfortable at times when some jokes began to feel less and less funny and more and more unsettling in the truths underlying them. Of course, some punchlines missed their mark, as is customary (see above, standard complaint #3), but the continual presence of the energetic host and several others throughout the night who managed a laugh or two kept the admittedly overlong ordeal moving along at a relatively brisk pace. More than most, this year’s Oscar’s experience was an introspective one, the audience having to grapple with several complex issues, not only of race, but of sexuality, big business, and the environment, to name a few of the accompanying themes that manifested themselves as the show went on.
All that taken to heart, the Oscar’s are still, by their nature, an awards show meant to honor excellence in cinema and in that department the presentation went off largely without a hitch. Two female first-time nominees walked away with the Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Brie Larson winning the former for her role in Room, and Alicia Vikander securing the latter for her performance in The Danish Girl. Always-the-bridesmaid-never-the-bride Leonardo DiCaprio finally (FINALLY) won his long-awaited Best Actor Oscar for his visceral performance in The Revenant. Both the film’s director and cinematographer, Alejandro Iñárritu and Emmanuel Lubezki taking home awards in their respective fields as well.
Cleaning up in nearly every category it was nominated was 2015’s best reviewed blockbuster, Mad Max: Fury Road. The action movie titan didn’t win any “major” awards per se but did manage to come away from the night with six Oscar’s for Achievement in Film Editing, Hair and Makeup, Production Design, Sound Mixing and Editing, and Costume Design, the film being more than deserving of such accolades.
The show was not without its upsets, however, the distinction of Best Actor in a Supporting Role causing the biggest stir of the night. Mark Rylance won the award for his role in Stephen Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, many believing Sylvester Stallone’s emotional return to the Rocky franchise in Creed being the superior performance. Pixar collected its eighth Oscar for Best Animated Feature for Inside Out many critics wondering beforehand whether the more mature, Charlie Kaufman film, Anomalisa with its existential gravitas and unique romance made it a more deserving candidate.
While Mad Max did not win the coveted Best Picture Oscar, Spotlight, the little film that could and did, was the most welcome upset of the night. The emotionally compromising story of the group of Boston Globe journalists who worked tirelessly to uncover the Catholic Church’s involvement in the molestation of children was not only the year’s best film but its most important one. Perhaps, it’s telling that both Spotlight and this year’s Oscar’s share the admonition that when it comes to securing justice, it is genuine perspective that seems to be key.