On Sunday, March 10, the 26th Oscars were hosted at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. This year’s show was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and actors and filmmakers were awarded for their performances in leading roles, supporting roles, directing, editing and producing.
This year’s film season featured really good movies like “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” that had the internet in a chokehold for weeks with trends like wearing pink to see “Barbie” in theaters. Some fans were upset to see that Margot Robbie, the main Barbie in “Barbie,” wasn’t nominated for Best Actress and that Greta Gerwig, the film’s director, wasn’t nominated for Best Director.
“If Robbie were to be nominated, it would mean she’d replace another actress,” said Jim DiDomenico, English teacher and head of Film Club. “With art, it’s a little nonsensical to try to quantify the five best performances, as if it’s the 100-meter dash or the NFL playoffs.”
Personally, I liked “Barbie” and going to see it was such a fun experience. However, ultimately, the Oscars were looking for the best developed storyline, which “Barbie” didn’t have.
“I thought that America Ferrera should’ve won for supporting actress,” said Naya Shirsat, freshman. “I really liked her monologue in the movie.”
“Barbie” employed some of the best artists to make the film’s songs, creating a top notch score. “What Was I Made For” by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell won the Oscar for Best Original Song and was nominated next to “I’m Just Ken” and “Dance the Night Away,” two other prominent songs in the film.
The Oscars also featured a performance from Ryan Gosling singing “I’m Just Ken” with full choreography and pink costuming.
“I loved [the performance],” said Olivia Nardulli, junior. “I love Ryan Gosling already, and I thought it was super fun.”
At the actual show, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” won seven awards with fourteen nominations. Cillian Murphy, who played the titular role in the film, won Best Actor. Robert Downey Jr. also won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Lewis Strauss in the film. As well, “Oppenheimer” took home Best Picture, and Christopher Nolan got Best Director.
“I was kind of annoyed [with Oppenheimer winning so many awards] because it felt like some of the movies didn’t even get a chance for some categories,” Nardulli said.
I did get annoyed with some of the bits throughout the show, with John Cena running across the stage and Kimmel referencing the “Moonlight”/”Laland” switch up for Best Picture in 2017. Both felt unnecessary, and I think they need to do better to draw more of an audience as the viewership for last night’s awards was only 1.9 million people.
“It’s hard to get a lot of people to watch anything that lasts three hours or more that isn’t professional sports,” DiDomenico said. “I’m not sure the awards carry as much weight or that regular people really care that much any more.”
As well, most of the Oscar nominations were for R-rated films, isolating younger audiences from watching.
“Adults in the Academy do the nominating process, and adults in general seem to enjoy dramas and comedies that have the R rating as those films can get into more mature content, themes and ideas,” DiDomenico said.
To read more about the Oscars, visit here.
