The theme of the 2022 Oscars was ‘Movie Lovers Unite’. For Chris Rock and Will Smith, the reunion was more dramatic—and painful—than the academy could have planned or intended.
In what will surely be the show’s most talked-about moment, Smith, the nominee and eventual winner of Best Actor for ‘King Richard’, slammed the comedian onstage, much to the confusion of the ABC audience, for whom the incident nearly happened. was completely overheard. (Reports from the Dolby Theater indicated Smith hit Rock in response to a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.)
This probably wasn’t the way the show’s producers wanted to put the movies back at the center of the cultural conversation.
To the dust, the nominees and presenters seemed excited to be reunited, social distancing doomed, and the energy came through vividly on the broadcast.
But “Movie Lovers Unite” also betrays the struggles of the Oscars, who dream of both bringing together a large, movie-loving TV audience and encouraging those audiences to reunite in movie theaters.
The program often felt the thrill of trying to offer something for everyone – although sometimes it could still surprise you, well, a slap out of the blue.
The awards ceremony opened bold and dashing, determined to show that the film industry could still put on a show. It started with one of the most notable musical performances in several Oscars: Beyoncé, introduced by Serena and Venus Williams, sang “Be Alive” from the Williams biopic “King Richard” on a Compton tennis court, dressed in tennis ball green with a bevy of dancers. .
This was followed by the presenters, plural – Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes – one for every year the awards had aired without a host since Jimmy Kimmel last held the podium in 2018. Their trialogue was compact and full of zinger (with three women) host, Schumer jibed, was “cheaper than hiring one man”). But with three times as many staff at the center, the usually hilarious Sykes disappeared into a recorded sketch about the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
Oh, finally there were prizes too. Best Supporting Actress statuette went to “West Side Story”‘s Ariana DeBose, who gave an emotional speech acknowledging her win as an “openly queer woman of color” — she’s the first to win an acting Oscar – and told young people who were unsure of their identity, “There is indeed a place for us.” There was the deaf actor Troy Kotsur of “CODA”, the first deaf man to win an acting Oscar, who drew a touching and funny acceptance that also worked in a perfect mime of Popeye.
These were the kind of rousing moments that make the film’s best advertisement, reminding fans of the power of art and performance.
And while there have been fewer political and social speeches at the recent Oscars (the pandemic was mostly played for laughs), Ukrainian-born actress Mila Kunis referred to “recent global events,” followed by a moment of silence and a call for help. to Ukraine.
But there were also three extreme sports athletes who introduced a James Bond montage, which seemed to be the product of a botched “How to Talk to Young People” brainstorming session. There was a video list of “Five Most Happy Moments” from fans, as if the Oscars had been taken over by a pop-up ad on the Internet. The Oscars even awarded a “fan favorite movie of the year,” which could win an Emmy for admitting.
Passion and stunts, nostalgia and snowboarding: these busy Oscars wanted to offer something for every market quadrant. To make room, something had to happen, namely eight “behind the scenes” awards, moved to a pre-show hour. Segments of the acceptances were inserted into the live show with an awkwardness that we can only hope was a form of protest on behalf of the film editing category.
The frenzy of the grab bag felt like a manifestation of the conflicting pressures on the Oscars right now. As a TV show with declining ratings, it tries to mend a fractured mass media audience. As a showpiece for the film industry, it aims to push audiences off the couch and back to the multiplex or arthouse.
Of course, expecting a three-hour TV show to undo the systemic changes of the streaming era is probably an impossible question. After all, this was a competition in which the big question was: which film viewers saw on Netflix or Apple TV+ or HBO Max would win the most. (The best photo winner was Apple’s “CODA,” which I viewed on an iPad during an airplane flight.)
But put three hours of stars on TV, and you can still cause a stir, as Smith and Rock proved, however clumsy. The drama intensified when Smith won the best actor award for “King Richard” and returned to the stage, emotionally apologizing to the audience, but also seemed to compare himself to his character, Richard Williams, “a fierce defender of his family’.
Ultimately, the film’s biggest self-promotion will have people talking less about Smith’s acting than about his punches. The biggest moment in a broadcast that aims to restore the glory of mass TV is likely to be rewatched the next day, largely as the unbleached video that TV audiences couldn’t see on air.
The big moment of the Oscars in 2022 may not bring anyone back to a theater. But you can bet that they will stream the music video.