The Oscars took the world by storm last weekend – but not in the way they hoped. The 94th Academy Awards’ historic wins were overshadowed by the unplanned moment that people just can’t stop talking about – Will Smith’s strike at presenter Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke at Jada Pinkett Smith’s expense.
The joke in question, a jab at Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, caused Smith to get up from his conveniently (or inconveniently) placed front-row table, walk on stage and land a large slap on Rock. Smith then sat down and proceeded to yell at Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth (with more expletives). ABC cut the audio for the broadcast so viewers wouldn’t hear, but uncensored clips from other countries were spread online. Smith then went on to win Best Actor about twenty minutes later for his role in “King Richard.”
Dubbed “The Slap” by many commenters, the moment quickly dominated the national discussion around the Oscars. People pointed out that Pinkett Smith sports her shaved style because of her diagnosis of alopecia, which she has spoken publicly about struggling with. The discussion of who was in the wrong, the ethics of both the joke and the slap and what consequences Smith should face (if any) took over social media for days after.
One thing most people agree on is that the spontaneous moment took away from the numerous other events that happened during the awards. There were multiple historic wins during the night, including Ariana Debose becoming the first openly queer actress of color to win an Oscar for her supporting role in “West Side Story.” Jane Campion also broke barriers by becoming the third woman ever to win Best Director for “The Power of The Dog.” She was the second woman ever to get a nod in the category and the first woman to be nominated twice.
“CODA” took home Best Picture, making it the first streaming movie to win the award. The film first premiered last year at the Sundance Film Festival and was bought and distributed by Apple TV+. “CODA” won two other awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur. Kotsur is the second deaf person to win an Oscar (his co-star Marlee Matlin was the first). The actor’s heartfelt and funny speech was easily the best of the night.
Another big part of the ceremony was the exclusion of eight categories, including Editing and Score, from the live broadcast. The categories were presented before the show as guests took their seats (which many commenters pointed out as disrespectful) and were edited down and aired throughout the ceremony. The night’s biggest winner, “Dune” (which won six Oscars), took many of these awards. The categories were cut because the producers wanted a shorter show.
However, the show lasted three hours and forty minutes – around a half hour longer than last year’s ceremony. Even though many comedic moments were drawn out, the hosting trio of Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall gave their share of funny bits throughout the night.
Musical performances were a highlight of the night, which started off with a performance from Beyoncé of her nominated song “Be Alive,” which was pre-taped at a Compton tennis court. Both “Dos Oruguitas” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Best Animated Feature winner “Encanto” were featured, the latter including a surprise rap verse from Megan Thee Stallion. Billie Eilish and Finneas ultimately won Best Original Song for “No Time to Die” from the new James Bond movie.
The ceremony also featured cast reunions of “White Men Can’t Jump” (1992), “Juno” (2007) and “Pulp Fiction” (1994), who were presenters for a few categories. Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino and Hofstra alum Francis Ford Coppola also took the stage to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “The Godfather.”
The 94th Academy Awards had high moments, low moments and even a briefly violent moment. Advertised as Hollywood’s big return to pre-pandemic normalcy, last week’s Oscars felt stranger than ever.
