2022 Oscars: A Recap

I will eventually get around to discussing the winners, highlights, and lowlights of the 94th Academy Awards.   However, the only topic on anyone's mind is Will Smith slapping presenter Chris Rock after Rock joked about Jada Pinkett-Smith's haircut.   Rock commented that he can't wait to see Pinkett-Smith in "G.I. Jane 2".  The look on Jada's face told the whole story.  She was furious.   Smith laughed at the joke initially, but after seeing Jada's stink eye, Smith obviously couldn't abide the joke.  

As Rock continued to present, Will Smith walked on stage and towards Rock.  I was assuming, like nearly everyone watching, that Smith might jokingly confront Rock or perhaps hit him with a zinger of his own.  Smith hit him with a zinger all right, but not the verbal kind.   In a surreal moment in which I couldn't tell whether this was a bit, Smith slapped Rock.   After roughly twenty seconds of silence caused by the seven-second delay, I realized this wasn't a bit or a skit, but Smith struck Rock.  Where was security?  Why didn't they rush to intercept Smith?  

It turns out Smith cursed at Rock telling him to:  "Keep my wife's name out of your f****** mouth."  Rock responded that Rock "smacked the shit out of him" and further stated this was the best night in the history of the Oscars.   It is among the most controversial to be sure.   The slap added another dimension to a show which clocked in at nearly three hours and forty minutes.   

When he won his expected Best Actor Oscar, he cried and apologized to the academy and to his fellow nominees, although not to Rock.   He assaulted another man on live television in front of a worldwide audience.  Smith's actions cast a tense pall over the rest of the evening and his justifications during his speech were lame at best.  The elephant in the room was hardly addressed.  A less famous person would likely be sitting in a jail cell this morning after being arrested or at least have been escorted from the theater.   Why was Smith allowed to return to his seat and spend the rest of the show in his seat as if nothing had happened?   It was roughly 45 to 60 minutes before Smith was named Best Actor.  The Academy stated they thought about removing him, but they couldn't get the head honchos together in time to make a decision.   Huh?   And on Monday afternoon, the Academy condemned Smith's behavior and promised an investigation.  What is there to investigate?  Millions saw Smith slap Rock in the face, walk back to his seat, and no consequences were issued.    Even the audience shockingly gave Smith a standing ovation when he won.   Aren't these the folks who have publicly condemned others for far lesser offenses?   Yet, Smith got a pass.   Don't be fooled by proclamations of outrage and promises of investigations.   At the very least, Smith should not be allowed to attend future ceremonies or present Best Actress next year. 

The audience surely wondered how Smith would address the scuffle.   He attempted to justify his actions by stating he was like Richard Williams and would protect his family.   Smith further described himself as a "vessel of love".  He may be on any other night.   But not this one.   Was Smith out of line?  Absolutely.  There are better ways to handle such a situation and certainly in not such a public manner.  Should comedians at award shows now have to worry about an offended person assaulting them?  You might expect that type of retaliation from a nightclub patron, but from a peer at the Oscars?  Was the joke iffy in taste?  Maybe.  Your mileage may vary because comedy, like many things, is a matter of taste.  But that is hardly the point.   

Everyone has their own opinion on the Smith-Rock confrontation.   Let's get to the rest of the show:

* No matter who the hosts are, having an Oscar host will guarantee the show will creep towards midnight before finally ending.   The hosts Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall were no better or worse than recent hosts.   The trouble is:  With a host, writers now have to create lame bits which are peppered into the show.   The writers are now forced to find a host something to do.  Very little of what Schumer, Sykes, or Hall said or did will be memorable.  It isn't their fault.   They are just working the material given to them.  

*  Boy, did The Power of the Dog lose all momentum following its initial Golden Globe win and its early Best Picture favorite status.   Jane Campion's Best Director Oscar is the only award tallied for the film, although Sykes said she watched the movie three times and is only halfway through it.   That was the funniest joke of the night.   Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee, nor Campion attempted to slap Sykes.   

*  CODA is an example of a film with momentum taking home the Best Picture Oscar.   The Producer's Guild Award and SAG Award for Cast in a Motion Picture were recent and paved the way for the first ever exclusively streamed film to win Best Picture.   The Power of the Dog reminded me of 2019's 1917, which saw its early momentum stalled by Parasite's win at the SAG awards.   

*  Dune nearly swept the technical awards with six Oscar wins, doubling CODA's haul.  Although CODA won all three awards for which it was nominated, including Troy Kotsur for Best Supporting Actor and Sian Heder's Adapted Screenplay.   

*  The In Memoriam segment was mangled by the focus on a gospel choir singing and dancing in front of the screen as the faces popped up.   Because of this, we could hardly see some of the names at times, and the idea of somehow making these deaths a joyous event is distracting.

*  Some nice reunions for White Men Can't Jump, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather, and a special appearance from wheelchair-bound Liza Minnelli which was a sweet moment.   Speaking of The Godfather, why were they playing the montage with hip-hop music set as background?   It didn't fit.

*  Smith's ugly outburst also overshadowed the popular win for Summer of Soul as Best Documentary Feature.   That was the award Chris Rock was presenting. 

*  Awarding Oscars in eight categories prior to the telecast did not keep the show under three hours.   
But hey, the acting nominee clips are back and in full swing!   The clips add suspense and we don't need to rely on presenters telling us how awesome the performances are.   We can see it for ourselves.