Oscars in Trump-Land Went La La Over Racial Diversity

Oscars 2017 will go down in history as one of the most politically charged events.

Mahershala Ali wins Best Actor in a Supporting Role. (Photo: Reuters)

On 29th February 1940, when Hattie McDaniel arrived at the legendary Cocoanut Grove nightclub in The Ambassador Hotel, she was the first African-American person to attend the ceremony as a nominee (for her portrayal of Mammy in Gone With the Wind). But that was the America that believed in racial segregation, and McDaniel wasn’t allowed in thanks to the hotel's strict no-blacks policy. Then producer David O. Selznick asked for special favours.

Hattie McDaniel posing with an Oscar statuette with presenter Fay Bainter. (Photo Courtesy: Oscar.org)

Dressed in a turquoise gown, McDaniel after her arrival was escorted to a small table, far from the one where her co-stars from Gone With the Wind — Olivia de Havilland, Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable and producer Selznick sat. McDaniel was well aware of the momentous occasion, and when she won, gave a gracious speech fighting tears of joy,

I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything I may be able to do in the future. I sincerely hope that I shall always be a credit to my race and the motion picture industry.

But the highest honour of the movie industry never stopped the indignities that came her way. Relegated to maid roles in countless films, when she died her body was refused by a segregated cemetery. This was fate of one of world’s first African-American movie stars of the world, thanks to the racist politics of her time.

Cut to more than 75 years later, the world, Hollywood and mercifully the Oscars have come a long way. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, with the Jimmy Kimmel monologue set the tone of the evening, a sundown that’s destined to celebrate racial diversity, breaking down walls between nations, and the non-conformity of class, creed and gender.

If Meryl Streep speechified Trump into an elegant demolishment without mentioning his name on an earlier occasion, this Oscars made no bones about celebrating Streep’s place in movie history (giving her another splendid display of booming applause), and reminding Trump his place in collective cognizance of artistes.

Meryl Streep at the Oscars. (Photo: Reuters)

If a record number of nominations went to people of colour, it also resulted into glorious wins including the coveted Best Picture.

This Oscars show will go down in history as one of the most politically charged ones, celebrating resistance through the most accessible art of all — movies.

Also Read: Donald Trump Looms Large as Oscars Celebrate Diversity

Kimmel opened proceedings with an appeal for harmony, urging Americans to reach out across the political rift, before making multiple jokes at the president’s expense. If he live-tweeted to Trump displaying his tweet on a giant screen, the Academy, moving with the current sentiment, gave the Foreign Language Oscar to Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi for his slow-burn drama, The Salesman.

Poster of The Salesman. (Photo courtesy: Twitter)

Though Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann (Germany) was a more justified film, Farhadi’s conquest is a reflection of the combined protest vote against Trump’s executive orders regarding travel ban.

In Farhadi’s absence, Iranian-American engineer Anousheh Ansari read a statement from him:

I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the US. Dividing the world into the “us” and “our enemies” categories creates fear. A deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression. Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others. An empathy which we need today more than ever.

In juxtaposition with the statement issued earlier by all the Best Foreign Language Film nominees, this speech shows the awareness of the simmering racial ugliness above and beyond the Hollywood gloss.

Mexican star Gael García Bernal openly slammed Trump’s proposed wall, and Ezra Edelman who clinched the Oscar for his documentary, O.J.: Made in America dedicated his award to victims of ‘police brutality, racially motivated violence and criminal injustice’. Orlando von Einsiedel, director of The White Helmets, holding his Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject) urged the audience to get out of their seats and call for an end to Syria's civil war, which led to a standing ovation.

Poster of The White Helmets. (Photo courtesy: Twitter)

If Barry Jenkins’s speech after the Best Adapted Screenplay victory was inclusive and compassionate, his compatriot, Tarell Alvin McCraney devoted his win to ‘all those black and brown boys and girls and non gender-conforming who don't see themselves’.

Mahershala Ali didn’t repeat his celebrated oratory turn at the SAG awards, but Viola Davis more than made up for it, by launching into a speech that spoke of exhuming ’the stories of the people who dreamed big and never saw those dreams to fruition’.

Her words were so passionate that the words soared in the auditorium, bringing waterworks in the eyes of her comrades.

Since the Academy has been too busy getting political this year, most awards went to projected winners, with almost zero upsets in sight, until Bonnie and Clyde arrived on the stage.

If their gun violence created a stir in 1967, their words created the biggest commotion in Oscar history 50 years later.

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty announced La La Land had taken the best picture prize - but then the musical’s producer Jordan Horowitz announced there had been a mistake.

The producer of La La Land holds up the Best Picture card. (Photo: Reuters)

The real winner turned out to be Moonlight. This slip-up will invite millions of think pieces around the media, but make no mistake, this will only help the Academy.

If a similar mix-up like this by Steve Harvey during Miss Universe pageant in 2015 brought the beauty parade to popular discourses, this Best Picture goof-up will only make Oscars meme-worthy and appealing to youngsters through social media validation.

After all, the Academy has been trying to overcome its misfortune of falling viewership and ratings. PriceWaterhouseCooper, the accountancy firm responsible for counting the ballots, has issued an apology in good faith, but the unforgiving nature of media knows that old adage, ‘any publicity is good publicity.’

Kimmel didn’t really seal the evening with his wits, for most of his stunts were reality show set-pieces.

And none of the the winners really upset the popular expectations, it was distressing to see Emma Stone gain (La La Land) over Isabelle Huppert (Elle), repeating the tragic memory of Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) winning over Emmanuelle Riva (Amour). If Riva opened vast expanses of emotional memory in her performance in Amour, Huppert showed astonishing courage and fearlessness as a rape victim in Elle. Both are wonders of the cinematic world, and with Riva being dead, it was a good chance for the Academy to acknowledge one of the most dazing talents of the medium.

On the other hand, Casey Affleck rightfully won the Best Actor (Manchester by the Sea) but it also exhibited Hollywood’s ways of forgiving a white male.

The allegations of sexual harassment and related lawsuits against Affleck didn’t deter voters, just the same way the camera couldn’t stop adoring Mel Gibson in the auditorium, despite his infamous anti-Semitism and homophobia in the past.

For Indians this side, the remembrance of Om Puri was purely poignant, and it was euphoric to see little Sunny Pawar roaring like the Lion King.

Jimmy Kimmel holds up Sunny Pawar. (Photo: Reuters)

But nothing beats the joy of seeing Moonlight clinching the most coveted trophy, for this poem of a film will remain one of the Academy’s worthiest choices.

Though Damien Chazelle became the youngest Best Director (La La Land) winner, the evening ended strangely but poetically for Moonlight. Now we all can say, in Moonlight black boys look golden.

Also Read: Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali Becomes First Muslim Actor to Win Oscar

(The writer is a journalist and a screenwriter who believes in the insanity of words, in print or otherwise; he tweets @RanjibMazumder)