Inti Navia 
Watching the 95th annual Oscars makes you realize how weird the Academy Awards actually are. It’s the only place where you can get someone dressed as Cocaine Bear harassing Malala Yousafzai.
Highlights of course include Rihanna’s performance of “Lift Me Up,” the presenting teams Pedro Pascal and Elizabeth Olson, and Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, and Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors, and who could forget the nominations themselves?
Strangely enough, James Cameron and Tom Cruise did not show up at the Oscars, even though Avatar and Top Gun were nominated. Maybe they were watching “The Last of Us” finale.
Out of all the animated movies: Turning Red, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, Pinnochio, The Sea Beast, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Pinnochio took home the Oscar. Guillermo del Toro walked on stage and delivered his classic line: “Animation is not a genre.” And he’s right, it’s a valid art form, but unfortunately, it barely got five minutes of time before they moved on to the next category.
Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Ke Huy Quan earned the film’s first (but not last) Oscar of the night for Best Supporting Actor. His speech had everyone in tears as he shouted, “Mom, I just won an Oscar!!”
The moment was fleeting when Jamie Lee Curtis took home the win for Best Supporting Actress. The audience was rightfully confused (especially Angella Bassett), when it was Curtis who won and not Bassett or Stephanie Hsu. Theories revolve around the win being more of a legacy one and not specific to Everything Everywhere All At Once itself, since Hsu outshined Curtis by far in that film.
To no one’s surprise, Brendan Fraser won Best Actor for The Whale, signaling his comeback to Hollywood at the same time as Ke Huy Quan, his co-star in Encino Man all the way back in 1992.
Michelle Yeoh made history as the first openly woman of color to win Best Actress, hopefully paving the way for even more people of color to gain recognition at the Academy Awards.
All in all, EEAAO won seven Oscars that night, for Directing, Film Editing, Writing, and of course, Best Picture. An extremely impressive achievement, considering it was an indie movie. It was a stroke of genius on the part of The Academy to make Harrison Ford the presenter for Best Picture, making Ke and him reunite after 39 years, when they worked together on Indiana Jones.
And, even though it was Jimmy Kimmel as host of the Academy Awards, one has to congratulate him on making it a whole 10 minutes into the event before making a Will Smith slap joke.
The Academy Awards have always been controversial, some calling it a meaningless achievement. Do you agree with that? Who do you think was snubbed? Let me know!
By Inti Navia, Senior, ChiArts
Every Platform: @intinavia
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