Oscar Aftermath 2019

There was so much Oscar drama this year that I'm honestly relieved that the big night went off as well as it did.  First there was the "Most Popular Film" debacle last summer, then Kevin Hart being hired to host and then quitting after an eruption of Twitter controversy.  Then came the plan to hand out four of the craft awards during commercial breaks, and only perform two of the Best Song nominees. Both decisions were also rightfully quashed.  Academy President John Bailey seemed to be weathering a new storm of outrage every week, and we haven't even gotten to the nominees yet.

All of these changes were pushed as a result of the Academy Awards ceremony hitting a ratings low last year.  This isn't surprising considering that all broadcast television ratings have been sliding, but the Academy was determined to mitigate the damage and save their biggest income stream.  The length of the ceremony was the major target, and all the proposed trims and exclusions were intended to get the telecast down to three hours. Not having a host turned out to be a blessing in disguise, removing the monologue and some of the other usual bits.  While it still ended up running well over three hours, this year's telecast was a full half hour shorter than last year's, and the shortest since 2012.

 

The ratings also recovered, around ten percent.  There were some good headliners this year, including a Queen performance at the opening and the widely promoted live duet between Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.  I don't watch much live television anymore, but the ads were still inescapable. While there was no host, the Academy packed the presenters roster with stars, including having Tina Fey,Amy Pohler, and Maya Rudolph start things off with a mini-monologue and having Julia Roberts announce the Best Picture winner.  We got a little of everybody, and it felt just about right. Some may also point to the nominees being more high profile as having an effect. "Black Panther," "Bohemian Rhapsody," and "A Star is Born" were all bona fide hits. Whether they deserved their Best Picture nominations was another matter.

So, let's get to the awards.  "Green Book," by all estimations, was a very safe choice that has made several people very upset, including Spike Lee.  But honestly, it could have been worse. "Bohemian Rhapsody" could have won, and after picking up four statuettes over the course of the evening, it was looking like it might pull off an upset.  "Black Panther" could have won, and upset the anti-superhero, anti-populist, and anti-Disney crowds. "Vice" could have won and offended anyone with a modicum of taste. "Green Book" was a miserably outdated bit of pandering to the Academy electorate, but also a pretty well made movie with some good performances.

The media narrative this morning is that Olivia Colman's win is a big upset, but she was no more unlikely a winner than Rami Malek, considering all the critical support.  Most of the major categories went to the expected winners, though there's been some hand-wringing about "Bohemian Rhapsody" getting the editing trophy for some dodgy work.  Personally, the most satisfying wins of the night for me were Spike Lee celebrating his Adapted Screenplay triumph and "Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse" finally breaking the Disney/PIXAR streak.

And as I'm reminded year after year, the smaller categories are often the source of some of the best surprises.  The Live Action Documentary Short winners championing their piece about menstruation was a highlight. I loved seeing Domee Shi win for Best Animated Short.  "Black Panther" winning Best Score, and Ludwig Goransson talking about being Ryan Coogler's college roommate was a delight. More minorities and more women won this year, and in categories that they traditionally didn't.    

Of course there were also some disappointments.  "The Favourite" and "Roma" didn't get nearly enough love in the end.  Gary Kurtz got left out of the "In Memoriam" segment. I feel bad for Spike Lee, even though he did finally win.  I'm relieved that the Oscars seem to have found their footing in the end though, and we can all regroup and come back for another round of this nonsense next year.  

Oh, and "Annihilation" didn't get nominated for anything, but apparently they decided to hold the ceremony in the Shimmer.    

---