With COVID-19 regulations, many large award ceremonies have been transported online, but the Academy Awards took a new approach to seating and the red carpet, all without a host. The Oscars at the Union Station only seated nominees and an optional plus one, removing the usual attendance of excess A-list celebrities.
Stacy Sher, a producer of the show, commented that the red carpet was “not a traditional (Oscar) red carpet, it’s a teeny-tiny red carpet.” She continued that, due to COVID-19 regulations, the amount of people on the carpet would be heavily limited.
As for the actual awards, this ceremony both made strides with representation in some categories while falling short in others. Chloe Zhao, the relatively new director of Nomadland (2020), became the first Asian-American woman and only the second woman ever to win Best Director. Zhao also took home the coveted award for Best Picture, and Frances McDormand, the film’s lead, received Best Actress.
Mank (2020), directed by David Fincher, received the most nominations, including that of Best Picture, but only took home two awards in cinematography and production design. Similarly, the widely-acclaimed Sound of Metal (2020), starring Riz Ahmed and directed by Darius Marder, only won in two out of the six categories it was nominated for.
Surprisingly, the fan favorite Minari (2020) only received one Oscar win out of its six nominations. Youn Yuh-jung was awarded Best Supporting Actress, a result that many had already predicted.
While many categories held a more diverse set of nominees, Best Picture nominations seemingly excluded widely-acclaimed movies such as Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Da 5 Bloods, and One Night in Miami, all featuring predominantly Black cast members.
Memorable acceptance speeches were in the cards for that night, as production allowed for recipients to speak for longer. Jon Batiste, a musician rewarded for his work on Soul (2020), started his speech with a moment of gratitude, saying “God gave us all the same 12 notes…Man, it’s just so incredible.” Frances Mcdormand, known for her powerful words, nonchalantly quoted her character in Nomadland, “I have no words, my voice is my sword, the sword is our work… and I like work.”
On top of the celebration of the movies themselves, the Academy Awards also included the Humanitarian Award, bestowed upon famed director Tyler Perry, and an In Memoriam section. The four-minute long video cycled through the names of people who had passed in the last 14 months to Stevie Wonder’s “As.” The video included the names of Sean Connery and Chadwick Boseman, but like every year, the Academy missed a few names, such as late Glee star Naya Rivera and Oscar nominee, Adam Schlesinger.
The Oscars ended with the highly-anticipated Best Actor award. The fact that the Academy decided to wait to award this accolade until the end, when Best Actor is usually 3rd to last, seemingly insinuated a win for Chadwick Boseman. After losing his battle with cancer last year, Boseman picked up a variety of posthumous nominations and wins for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020). The oscar, however, went to Anthony Hopkins for his work in The Father, causing some uproar within the film community.
Nominations, especially for Best Actor, were diverse. Along with Chadwick Boseman, Steven Yeun became the first Asian-American actor to be nominated, while Riz Ahmed became the first actor of Pakistani descent. In fact, this year marked the first time that people of color were in the majority for the category. A white actor still received the award.
In regard to its nominees and winners, the Oscars have always been lacking in diversity. Though this year’s Academy Awards made small strides in the industry, a large amount of work is needed for the Oscars to truly represent film and the American audience.
