The 94th Academy Awards featured movies, actors and commotion unlike any other year.
This year’s Academy Awards are likely to go down in history for multiple reasons, though it’s unfortunate that most of the accomplishments will be overshadowed by the drama that took place during the ceremony. Regardless, the 94th Academy Awards were full of firsts: the first deaf man won an award for acting, the first openly queer woman of color won an Oscar, and of course, the first time someone got slapped while they were presenting an award.
The 94th Academy Awards took the internet by storm this year. If you have any social media presence whatsoever, then it is a certainty you’ve seen the conflict between Will Smith and Chris Rock, and all the memes that have come about because of it. During his award presentation, comedian Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, saying that “[she] can’t wait for ‘“GI Jane 2’” to come out.” Pinkett Smith, much like GI Jane, was sporting a shaved head at the ceremony. The controversy of the jokes comes from the fact that she has alopecia. Will Smith, at first, laughed at the joke until he saw that his wife was upset, and the rest is Oscars history as Smith walked straight on stage and slapped Rock. As he took his seat, Smith yelled, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.” Not an hour later, he won Best Actor for his role in “King Richard.”
Will Smith was reportedly asked to leave the ceremony, but refused. Smith later voluntarily resigned from the Academy.
With the “defining” moment of this year’s awards out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the other historical moments that took place. Troy Kotsur made history this past weekend as he was the first deaf actor to win an Oscar. Kotsur was a supporting actor in “CODA,” which also won the Oscar for Best Picture. During his emotional speech, Kotsur signed, “This is dedicated to the deaf community, the ‘“CODA’” community and the disabled community. This is our moment.” He tearfully breaks down, saying that this award saved his and his family’s lives as they’ve struggled so many years financially.
Another first came when Ariana DeBose won the Oscar for best supporting actress. She was the first openly queer woman of color to win an Oscar, taking home the award for her role in “West Side Story.” She is the second Latina to win this award; the first was won by Rita Morena who played the same character in the original version of the film. During her speech, DeBose paid tribute to Morena as she said, “You’re staring at me right now, and I’m so grateful. Your Anita paved the way for tons of Anitas like me. I love you so much.” She also eloquently talked about questioning one’s identity, saying that “there is indeed a place for us.”
Perhaps one of the most shocking award winners of the ceremony is “Dune,” which took home a total of six Oscars out of the ten they received nominations for — the most won by a single picture this year. Winning awards for its score, cinematography and visual effects, “Dune” racked up all the technical awards, which makes it one of the most successful sci-fi films to date. That being said, “CODA” won every category it was nominated in, collecting three Oscars.
This year also saw the return of Oscar hosts after the Kevin Hart controversy in 2019. The trio of hosts included Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes. The last time the Oscars had multiple hosts was in 2011 when it was hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway.
Though the 94th Academy Awards will go down as perhaps the most memorable Oscars in history, it will be because of drama, rather than the history made that night, which is unfortunate after the groundbreaking wins by Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur.
