Immigrants, #MeToo and JetSkis: The 90th Academy Awards

It was always going to be a charged night. In the year of #MeToo, a year where filmmakers, actors and cinephiles alike are waiting to see just how seriously Hollywood took the concerns of #OscarsSoWhite, and a year where Donald Trump is sadly still the President of the United States, there were Things To Talk About.
Enter our host, Jimmy Kimmel, who has gone through his own evolution this year. His decision to share his experiences of having a baby with serious health issues have imbued his talkshow monologues with a vulnerability and empathy that separate him from Jimmy Fallon’s fawning immaturity, and Seth Meyers’ warm but unflappable persona. But Kimmel’s experiences have also inspired justified rage, and he has channelled this into increasingly searing critiques of America’s healthcare system, saying “No parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child’s life.” He has also addressed the effects of Donald Trump’s bigotry and greed on the most vulnerable members of society, including children and immigrants. In October, he openly wept during his monologue as he implored lawmakers to confront gun violence. And last week, he went fiercely after conspiracy theorists who claim that the survivors of the recent school shooting in Parkland, Fla., are actors.
This heightened sense of sensitivity and politicism was evident in his monologue. Before the ceremony, Kimmel had assured the press that he would be addressing #MeToo, but in a way that would not make light of survivors’ experiences or make any abusers the subject of jokes, as doing so could be triggering for the many audience members who have shared their stories of sexual violence and harassment. “This show is not about reliving people’s sexual assaults,” Kimmel said. “It’s an awards show for people who have been dreaming about maybe winning an Oscar for their whole lives. And the last thing I want to do is ruin that for someone who is, you know, nominated for, you know, best leading actress or best supporting or best director or cinematographer or whatever, by making it unpleasant.”
Kimmel started off by referring to the now infamous mix-up last year, where La La Land was mistakenly announced the winner of Best Film, when Moonlight had in fact won. The mistake wasn’t corrected until the cast and crew of La La Land were onstage giving their acceptance speeches. “So this year,” Kimmel remarked, “when you hear your name called – don’t get up right away!”
Kimmel then invoked the very Oscar statue itself, saying “Oscar is the most beloved and respected man in Hollywood, and it’s easy to see why. Just look at him”, Kimmel said, gesturing to the giant hold Oscar statue onstage. “He keeps his hands where you can see them, never says a rude word – and most important, no penis at all. That’s the kind of men we need more of in this town!”
Kimmel continued to refer to #MeToo, saying “Here’s how clueless Hollywood is about women. We made a movie called What Women Want – and it starred Mel Gibson!”
But Kimmel stressed, “This is a night for positivity,” saying the awards event was most of all an evening to celebrate the great films from 2017. He deliberately referenced the recent case of pay disparity between Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg on their reshoots of All The Money In The World and noted that women need to be paid equally – but also that they need to be offered the same opportunities and recognition. “Only 11 percent of movies are directed by women,” he said, and he gave a nod to Mudblood’s cinematographer Rachel Morrison, who is the first women to ever be nominated for Best Cinematography - though she eventually lost out to Roger Deakins, who finally won an award for his work on Blade Runner 2049 after losing out 13 times previously – so a record of a different kind was broken!
Kimmel acknowledged the importance of the night, saying “ceilings have been shattered,” thanks to films like Lady Bird, Black Panther and Get Out. Kimmel heaped praise upon Jordan Peele’s social horror, saying that the funnyman turned writer and director is one of the first artists to be nominated in three major categories on his first big screen attempt – and for a film that tackles racism in America.
When talking about the film that grabbed the most Oscar nods, The Shape of Water, Kimmel once again brought things back to Hollywood harassment, joking “We will remember this year as the year men screwed up so badly, women started dating fish.”
Kimmel closed by announcing that whoever gives the shortest speech of the night would win a free jet ski – an initially cute joke that was repeated ad nauseum throughout the night.
The first acting award, Best Supporting Actor, went to Sam Rockwell, for his role as a mercurial, racist cop in Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Rockwell, who has been putting in incredible performances for years including films like Moon, Seven Psychopaths and The Way Way Back, was charming and obviously delighted. He paid homage to Irish-Londoner director McDonagh, saying “I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for you, I want to do ten more movies with you.”
Netflix then made history by winning their first Oscar for Best Documentary Feature . Icarus, directed by Bryan Fogel, examined Russia’s state-sanctioned doping program that scandalised the Olympic Games and led to the country being banned from competing in this year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
A feature that became a lovely, nostalgia-filled new addition to the ceremony were montages celebrating previous Oscar winners. But the ceremony was also looking at current stars, and current issues facing America today
As Lupita Nyong’o and Kumail Nanjiani took to the stage to present the award for Best Production Design. The two actors acknowledged that they are immigrants – Nyong’o is from Kenya, Nanjiani is from Pakistan and Iowa – and they referred to Donald Trump’s terrible immigration reform plan, which could potentially see hundreds of thousands of young undocumented migrants, knowns as Dreamers, deported.
“Like everyone in this room, and everyone watching at home, we are dreamers. We grew up dreaming of one day working in the movies. Dreams are the foundation of Hollywood, and dreams are the foundation of America,” said Nyong’o. “And so to all the Dreamers out there,” continued Nanjiani, “we stand with you.”
The two actors then announced that Best Production Design was won by The Shape Of Water, the first award of the night to go to Guillermo Del Toro’s stunning gothic fairytale.
Rita Moreno, the 86 year old West Side Story actress then took to the stage, wearing the same dress she wore at the 1962 Oscars when she accepted her award for Best Supporting Actress. Presenting the award for Best Foreign Language Film, she laughed with delight as she announced that Chilean director Sebastian Leilo, who Hot Press interviewed last month, won for his beautiful film about a trans woman, A Fantastic Woman. Star Daniela Vega, a trans actress and singer, joined Leilo onstage during his acceptance speech. It’s an important win as stories about trans characters nearly always feature cis actors – The Danish Girl, Transatlantic, Dallas Buyers Club – and the actors are rewarded, while trans people and trans actors remain overlooked. Vega later became the first trans Oscar presenter, when she introduced Sufjan Stevens’ song from Call Me By Your Name.
Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali took to the stage to announce the winner of Best Supporting Actress. Unsurprisingly, this gong went to Alison Janney for her ferocious, fearless performance in I, Tonya. Janney, who has won fans and adoration through her roles in The West Wing, Juno, 10 Things I Hate About You and The Help, was lovely and funny in her speech, jokingly eschewing the convention of thanking five million people in her speech by saying “I did it all by myself.” She then corrected herself, thanking the bird who sat on her shoulder throughout her performance. Rightly so. That bird knew the difference between joking and showboating, it’s a fine line.
An uncomfortable moment did occur when the winner of Best Animated Short was announced, an award that went to Dear Basketball. Retired Lakers basketball player Kobe Bryant, credited as a creator and executive producer of the film, took to the stage to accept the award. However, Bryant has been accused of sexual assault. The case, opened in 2003, never made it to trial, as his accuser – a 19 year old who was dragged through the media in the months leading up to the trial - informed the court she would not testify. A deal was struck where the sexual assault charge would be dismissed if he issued an apology, delivered in court. Bryant did, and part of his apology said “although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.”
Bryant is now known as one of the greatest basketball players in American history, and as we know, celebrated sports stars are too often excused of sexual violence. But to see him awarded an Oscar in the year of #MeToo was disconcerting, to say the least.
This was followed by another disappointment, of a different kind, as Ireland’s Nora Twomey lost out on the Best Animated Feature award. Twomey, of Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny, was nominated for her work on The Breadwinner, but the winner was Pixar’s Coco, a beautiful, colourful tale of a Mexican boy exploring the Land of the Dead and connecting with his sense of family loyalty. Director Lee Unkrich took to the stage, and gave an ebullient, emotive speech, saying “With Coco, we tried to take a step forward toward a world where all children can grow up seeing characters in movies that look and talk and live like they do. Marginalized people deserve to feel like they belong. Representation matters!”
Coco’s win, and its celebration of Mexico and Mexican culture, felt particularly important, as actors have been protesting the lack of recognition of Latinx actors and stories. This is the sixth consecutive year that no Latino actors have been nominated for an acting Academy Award.
Jane The Virgin star Gina Rodriguez has been highlighting this, tweeting “How I feel about the #Oscars this morning and the lack of Latinos...“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity” -Viola Davis.” Journalist and anchor Jorge Ramos also tweeted on this topic, saying “Time for an Oscar. Latinos are 18% of population and 23% of moviegoers but only 3% of speaking characters in film.”
Latinx people aren’t the only people who are still consistently overlooked by Hollywood. Last year, Dev Patel was the sole actor of Asian descent who received a nod. This year, the snub of Downsizing’s Hong Chau was a particular sore point, with many Hollywood figures voicing their frustration.
Actress Constance Wu tweeted her displeasure at the Academy, saying “u coulda nominated the brilliant #HongChau! How many Asian Americans have been nominated for Acting in the past decade??? Zero? I think it’s zero. And Chau was wonderful!” Meanwhile awards publicist Ryan Aguirre tweeted “next year can we put Hong Chau in a *good* movie because she is amazing and Asians should get Oscar nominations, too.”
This is particularly notable after a series of high-profile Asian roles have been whitewashed, such as Scarlett Johansson taking the lead in Ghost In The Shell, Emma Stone playing a part-Asian, part-Hawaiian character in Aloha, and Tilda Swinton playing a whitewashed Ancient One in Dr. Strange.
Inclusion and awareness was also on the agenda when Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton scooped up the award for Best Short Film (Live Action) for The Silent Child, their film about a four year old deaf girl. Shelton, who played Mitzee Minniver on Hollyoaks for three years, based the film on her own experiences as the child of a parent who became deaf.
Shelton signed through her acceptance speech, saying and signing “Our movie is about a deaf child being born into a world of silence. Millions of children all over the world live in silence and face communication barriers, particularly access to education." Shelton continued, “Deafness is a silent disability, you can’t see it and it’s not life-threatening, so I want to say the biggest of thank yous to the Academy, for allowing us to put this in front of a mainstream audience.”
The ceremony then did something pretty incredible. Three Harvey Weinstein accusers – Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek and Annabella Sciorra – came onstage and gave empowered speeches. Sciorra, who last year alleged that Harvey Weinstein raped her and deliberately sabotaged her career, spoke first, her emotion palpable.
“It’s nice to see you all again,” she said, referring to how her career was essentially halted by Weinstein. “This year, many spoke their truth and the journey ahead is long, but slowly, a new path has emerged.”
“The changes we are witnessing are being driven by the powerful sound of new voices, of different voices, of our voices, joining together in a mighty chorus that is finally saying time’s up,” Judd said.
The actresses recognised the work being done by #MeToo and #TimesUp, saying “we work together to make sure that the next 90 years empower these limitless possibilities of equality, diversity, inclusion, intersectionality. That’s what this year has promised us.” The actresses then introduced a montage of women and people of colour – including Mira Sorvina, Lee Daniels, Ava DuVernay, Greta Gerwig, Geena Davis, Yance Ford, Sarah Silverman, Kumail Nanjiani, Barry Jenkins, and Liz Hannah - addressing the need for Hollywood to recognise diversity – and to implement change so that people who are not white, male, cis and straight are recognised, celebrated and offered opportunities.
“Everyone is getting a voice to express something that’s been happening forever,” Sorvino said. “Not only in Hollywood, but in every walk of life.” Geena Davis talked about how when “Thelma & Louise” came out in 1991, people thought it would mark a turning point for how women were portrayed in Hollywood. “That didn’t happen,” she said. “But this is now that moment.” And the actors and filmmakers of colour spoke of the implicit racism and bias that still exists in Hollywood, with Kumail Nanjiani scoring the funniest line of the night as he said "Some of my favourite movies are by straight white dudes about straight white dudes. Now straight white dudes can watch movies starring me, and you relate to that. It's not that hard, I've done it my whole life."
This call for the appreciation of people of colour was soon fulfilled, as Jordan Peele picked up the award for Best Original Screenplay for Get Out, beating out frontrunner Three Billboards. Peele, the first Black filmmaker ever nominated for directing, writing, and producing in the same year, thanked the people who encouraged him to make Get Out, saying “"I want to dedicate this to everyone who let me raise my voice."
Peele is also the first Black filmmaker ever nominated for directing, writing, and producing in the same year. Emma Stone took to the stage to reveal whether Peele would also win Best Director, or if Greta Gerwig would become the second woman to win Best Director – but no. Guillermo Del Toro scooped up the gong, deservedly, for his work on The Shape Of Water. Four out of the last five Best Director winners have now been from Mexico, as Alejandro González Iñárritu won for The Revenant in 2015 and Birdman in 2014, while Alfonso Cuarón won for Gravity 2013. Del Toro acknowledged this, saying “I am an immigrant, like many, many of you, and in the last 25 years, I've been living in a country all of our own. I think the greatest thing that our art does and our industry does is erase the lines in the sand."
Jane Fonda and Helen Mirren then graced the stage to present the award for Best Actor. Though hopes were high that Daniel Day Lewis may snatch it for his performance in Phantom Thread, his final film before retirement, Gary Oldman finally received his first ever Oscar for his role as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. “It was well worth the wait!” he said. He then thanked many individual people in his life, the Academy, Winston Churchill and his wife. He ended by thanking his mother, who is "99 years young. Thank you for your love and support, put the kettle on, I'm bringing Oscar home!”
As was revealed in the press last week, Jennifer Lawrence and Jodie Foster usurped Casey Affleck as the presenters who would announce Best Actress. Traditionally, the previous year’s acting winners present the same categories for the opposite gender at the Oscars. But in January, it was revealed that last year’s lead actor winner Casey Affleck, who won for his role in Manchester by the Sea, had withdrawn as a presenter from this year’s ceremony, reportedly to avoid becoming a distraction due to two sexual harassment lawsuits he previously settled with the producer and cinematographer of his 2010 film I’m Still Here.
The idea of breaking tradition and allowing women to present the award to other women felt appropriate. Foster noted the strength of actresses in the industry –“not just the strength of the characters they play onscreen, but their strength as women, in their real life journey to the Oscar stage.” Lawrence took the opportunity to pay homage to actresses who were fighting the good fight long before #MeToo, saying “It’s a new day in Hollywood, with new challenges ahead for all of us. But none of us will ever forget those who came before us, those who blazed a trail for my generation and for those to come – like Jodie, who gave me one of my first jobs when I was nineteen, and who has inspired me every day since.”
Then it was time to announce Bets Actress. Of course, we were excited for Saoirse Ronan, who was nominated for her beautiful performance as a headstrong teen in LadyBird, but this category always belonged to Frances McDormand for her performance as a rage-filled mother in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. When she was announced as Best Actress, McDormand took to the stage, searing as ever, saying “I’m hyperventilating a little bit, if I fall over, pick me up – because I’ve got some things to say.”
The actress, who previously won in 1997 for Fargo, invited every female nominee in every category – actresses, directors, cinematographers, designers, all – to stand with her, and instructed all the men sitting: “We all have stories we need to tell and projects that need financing. Invite us to your offices and we’ll tell you all about them.”
She ended her speech with a two-word call to action: “Inclusion rider.”
Finally, the big award of the night, Best Picture, thankfully went off without a hitch. Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty were given a do-over after last year’s debacle, and managed to announce the right – and rightful – winner: The Shape of Water. Guillermo Del Toro again took to the stage, jokingly double-checking the envelope before giving a beautiful speech.
“Growing up in Mexico as a kid,” the director said, “I was a big admirer of foreign films like E.T., William Wyler, Douglas Sirc, Frank Capra and a few weeks ago, Steven Spielberg said if you find yourself there, find yourself at the podium, remember that you are part of a legacy. You are part of a world of filmmakers, and be proud of it. I’m very, very proud,” said del Toro. “I want to dedicate to every young filmmaker, the youth that is showing us how things are done. Really they are, in every country in the world.”
He then called to the young filmmakers of the world, saying “I want to tell you, everyone who is dreaming of a parable of using genre fantasy to tell the things that are real in the world today, you can do this. This is a door. Kick it open and come in.”
What a perfect message to end the night on. There are doors. Let’s all help kick them open – for everyone.