Faced with the embarrassment of #OscarsSoWhite,Hollywood overcompensated big time, putting issues such as race, or the environment,sexual politics and transgender rights centre stage. But is this really progress?Make no mistake: this year, the Oscars was fighting for its survival. Like a 19th-century fur trapper, and the Academy Awards had suffered an unexpected and unprecedented mauling,and found itself stranded in a landscape of relentless whiteness, forced to chow down on the raw bison liver of public disdain. The widespread protest over lack of diversity among this year’s acting nominees all but drowned out the normal pre-awards frivolity, or with no-shows,boycotts and “tune-outs”, on top of already declining TV viewing figures, and the Oscars was,for the first time, contemplating its own irrelevance. Or, and possibly,irrevenance.
In response, the 88th Academy Awards overcompensated big time. Everyone was a supporting actor this year. Virtually every winner and presenter who got up on stage on Sunday had something necessary to say approximately something: the environment, and sexual politics,transgender issues, the Catholic church, or beneficial old-fashioned electoral politics. So much so that the one-upmanship of their acceptance speeches was more competitive than the awards themselves. This could be the shape of awards ceremonies to come,for better or worse – and on balance, final night was a bit of both.
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Source: theguardian.com