The 94th Annual Academy Awards: “That was … uh … greatest night in the history of television”

Image courtesy of The New Yorker

By Noelia Veras

After years of The Oscars facing the reputation of being long, boring, and disappointing, this year’s ceremony managed to deliver something totally different. On Sunday, March 27, the most chaotic Academy Awards in years took place. Richard Brody of the New Yorker called it “The Overcrammed, Overrushed, Frenetic, Joyless, and Briefly Violent 2022 Oscars Ceremony.”

Perhaps the most talked about moment of the night was when Will Smith took the stage and slapped Chris Rock for making a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinket Smith, which poked fun at her appearance. The Academy responded soon after the incident occured. 

“The Academy does not condone violence of any form,” said both David Rubin, President of the Academy, and CEO Dawn Hudson in a letter addressing the incident. “Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”

This year, the awards returned to its traditional location at the Dolby Theatre, shifting from last year’s confusing experiment with multiple locations in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Unlike recent years, there was a host—in fact, there were three hosts this year: Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes. Though mostly forgettable, the hosts did have some good moments, especially the opening monologue.

“We’re gonna have a great night tonight,” Sykes. “And for you people in Florida, we’re gonna have a gay night.”

“Gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, gay, gay,” Sykes, Hall, and Schumer said in unison.

The award for best supporting actress went to Ariana DeBose for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. Debose is the first Afro-Latina and openly gay woman of color to win an award for acting at the Oscars. 

Another notable winner of the night was Jessica Chastain, who won best actress for her work on The Eyes of Tammy Faye, in which she played the titular character. She took the time to talk about how damaging anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is and the growing rates of suicide. This was her third nomination in the category.

Jane Campion took home the award for best director for her film The Power of the Dog. Hans Zimmer won best score for his “Dune” soundtrack, though he did not show up to the event. Smith won best actor for his role in King Richard after he slapped Chris Rock and gave a long speech addressing the incident and apologizing. 

“Art imitates life,” Smith said. “I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things.”

 Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) won for best documentary as director Ahmir Thompson and producers Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, and David Dinerstein took the stage right after Smith slapped Rock. Patel took to Twitter to voice his thoughts regarding the event.

“I think what Will did was selfish. It robbed the category of its moment. It robbed the other excellent and amazing films of their moment to be acknowledged in what was a STRONG year for docs. And it robbed Summer of Soul and our team of our moment. Of a loud, enthusiastic cheer for a celebrated film,” Patel said.

CODA won in the best picture category, making history and marking a triumph for the deaf community and representation of deaf individuals on screen. The film’s accomplishment was evidently overshadowed by the slap heard ‘round the United States, though it deserves recognition for its great feat. This is the first film from a streaming platform, Apple TV+, to win in the best picture category. This is also the first film with a mostly deaf cast to win this award and it’s a coming of age film about a hearing girl in a deaf family who longs to go to college for music. 

Overall, this was one of the most eventful Oscars in recent history, possibly marking an upward trend in viewership for the next few years. Beyonce was finally seen in public and made an appearance in a beautiful gown. Additionally, the ceremony held the first live performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” charming audiences with Megan Thee Stallion’s dazzling addition to the song.

Rock’s astute observation of this year’s Academy Awards serves to show just how unforgettable the night as a whole was as he says: “That was … uh … greatest night in the history of television.”