Well, that was unexpected!
The 93rd Academy Awards have passed almost unnoticed, with a damp squib in place of a ceremony. Breaking with tradition, the final award of the evening was for best actor; the most anticipated, that for best picture, already having been given to Nomadland.
Joaquin Phoenix then stepped on to the stage to present the best actor prize. Never exactly Mr Personality when he isn't in character, Phoenix muttered that he was supposed to talk about the transformative magic of the acting process, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Without introducing any clips or describing any of the individual performances, he went on to name the five nominees.
Nicholas Barber, Oscars 2021: More strange than any other in living memory
, BBC Culture
Chadwick Boseman was many people's favourite to win; largely, it seems, for being black and dying too young—what's not to like? Obviously, though, he couldn't have accepted the award in person. Instead, a visibly uninterested Joaquin Phoenix
announced the winner to be Anthony Hopkins, who wasn't there to accept the award in person either, despite being among the living. In fact, not only was he absent from the ceremony in LA, he didn't even attend its London satellite venue, the British Film Institute. Instead, the ceremony closed with Phoenix muttering that the Academy would accept the award on his behalf
.
Oh, the humanity. (LOL)
If Boseman had won, the Academy could've congratulated itself for doing the right thing
in support of diversity, inclusion, quotas, and flap‑flap‑flap. The evening would have closed with a heartwarming montage, emotional tributes, and the whole nine yards of yada-yada; which may be why the best actor award was held back to the show's end. As it is, the ceremony's irrelevance, as evidenced by the total lack of fucks given by either the host or the eventual winner, is so touching as to be funny.
In summing up his thoughts on the snoozefest for BBC Culture, Nicholas Barber notes that at least the 2021 Oscars subverted expectations.
The fairest thing to say is that Academy Awards are rarely very entertaining to watch, but at least this year they were not very entertaining in an unexpected way.
Nicholas Barber, Oscars 2021: More strange than any other in living memory
, BBC Culture
And subverting the audience's expectations is exactly what Hollywoke likes to do, in lieu of meeting those same expectations with entertainment. Can anyone have any sympathy when their plans go to shit?