Ceremony bungled even before Will Smith slapped Chris Rock
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Will Smith hits Chris Rock with a slap on the cheek during the 94th Oscars at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, California, on March 27, 2022.
Robyn Beck | Afp | Getty Images
Even before Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar, Sunday’s Academy Award ceremony had already been a joke. Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage.
This event ought to have been about celebrating diversity. Ariana deBose won an Academy Award as an actor, Troy Kotsur, a queer man of color, was the first to win the Academy Award for acting and Jane Campion, a woman in the directing categories, became the third winner.
The streaming industry should have seen this as a turning point. AppleTV+’s CODA, the movie by a streaming service, was the first to win best picture.
Instead, people will recall the 2022 Academy Awards when an actor was abused by a presenter because he made a joke about his wife.
According to preliminary Nielsen national ratings, the broadcast attracted around 15.36 Million viewers. reported by The Hollywood Reporter. The final numbers will not be released on Tuesday.
These numbers are still higher than those from the 2021 ceremony’s final number of 10.4million viewers. According to THR, they are still significantly lower than the Oscars rating. This means that the academy still has lots of work ahead.
Bad cut-and-paste job
Smith’s inexplicable slap was only one of many foibles that were part of the production. Even before the ceremony began, it was fraught with controversy. The producers decided to give eight out of 23 awards prior to the broadcast and later edit the winners.
The awards went mainly to technical categories such as sound, edit, and production design but included three short-form categories. Over 70 industry leaders, including John Williams and Guillermo del Toro (directors), petitioned ABC and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to reverse the decision.
The eight categories winners were instead announced via Twitter at the red carpet celebrations and then inserted into live broadcast. Some audience members were already taking their seats, others were not.
It is an insult to the crew members, who often go unrecognized and are at the heart of Hollywood’s films. This is particularly offensive when Hollywood has only one studio. narrowly avoided a massive film and television crew strikePoor pay and benefits – less than six month ago
These categories, according to the producers of the broadcast were eliminated in order to cut down on the time it took to broadcast. This is often more than three hours. The broadcast ran for almost 40 minutes longer than the three hours promised.
Even more bizarre was the decision of the producers to save time by not showing 8 award winners on the stage and insert 2 fan-voted honorary Awards for “best cheer” or “fan favourite film.”
Online polls were created to create excitement and encourage people to tune into the ceremony. Many left confused as Zack Snyder’s “Justice League” won the best fan moment of the Flash entering the speedforce, while “Army of the Dead” won the prize for favourite film of 2021.
The night cannot be saved by a trio of hosts
The show kicked off with a performance by Beyonce of the nominated song from “King Richard,” “Be Alive,” before segueing into a three host monologue by Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall.
Schumer stated that the academy had hired three female hosts this year because it was cheaper than hiring one person.
Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall hosted the 94th Annual Academy Awards.
Disney General Entertainment Content| Disney General Entertainment Content | Getty Images
Schumer did a second monologue, after Sykes had gone off stage. He roasted nominee films “Don’t Look Up” (and “Being the Ricardos”) to raucous applause. It was her standout performance and she could easily host the show by herself.
Hall’s part, however, was a failure. Later in the show she appeared alone and called Bradley Cooper Timothee Chalamet Tyler Perry Simu Liu to join her onstage. She performed a Covid-testing gag which required her to wipe “the backside of your mouth” with my tongue.
The ceremony ended with Josh Brolin giving Jason Momoa and Jason Momoa a pat on the back as they were about to take their next award. The whole thing was met with awkward laughters by the audience.
Sykes was forgettable. Her main solo bit involved a pretaped trip to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which drew laughs, but ultimately felt like what it was — an advertisement for a $482 million museum.
The second half was largely void of hosts, except for an appearance where each host dressed up as a film character. Sykes dressed up as Richard Williams of “King Richard” while Hall was dressed up as Tammy Faye of “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” Schumer climbed from the rafters in wires as Spider-Man, “Spider-Man : No Way Home.”
After the Smith-Rock incident was over, none of the host appeared on the stage. Schumer attempted to excite the audience during the third hour, after which the room had been empty. But even her jokes were not enough to change the evening.
Academy Awards: The Future
Poor ratings won’t be saved from the Oscars by fan-voted categories or live music performances.
In recent years, all awards ceremonies from TV to music have been affected. There are more entertainment options for audiences than ever before.
These shows are not popular for celebrities making political and/or social statements. There are also those who don’t care about these films because they’re not mainstream.
Not to mention that younger viewers who have cut their cable are less likely to watch the 16-20 minutes worth of ads per hour associated with live TV broadcasts. An hour of advertising can be added to a show as long as the Oscars, which is three hours and more.
But that does not diminish the Oscars’ importance. It is not only an honour bestowed by film industry peers, but also a financial blessing. Winners and nominees can use their awards to earn more or get projects that are a passion for major studios.
It is clear that the academy can’t cater to the needs of both the movie community and mainstream audiences. The ratings are unlikely to return to levels of a decade ago and the strategy used to generate interest is not effective. This strategy is actually disempowering and aggravating the very people that it claims to love.
It will be remembered that “La La Land”, which was actually named best picture, won the Oscars 2017. Productions assuming that Chadwick Boseman would be the best actor winner and placing it at the conclusion of the 2021 ceremony will make the show a mess. It will also be associated with the 2022 Oscars as an embarrassing slap.
There was no queer woman in color that made a powerful statement about accepting her identity. Or a deaf actor who humbly accepted an award on behalf his community. It’s not for women winning in traditionally male-dominated categories. A streamer won the best picture trophy, potentially speeding up a already significant industry change.
You can’t go wrong with a little slap.
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