EDITORIAL – Thankfully, pomposity and politics were almost gone from Oscars

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE that Sunday night’s Academy Awards were finished on time, were devoid of endless rambling acceptance speeches and included almost no self-righteous talk of human rights, racism or world hunger?

Indeed, that’s exactly what happened. There was scant mention of Ukraine, Oct. 7 and Gaza, and not having to suffer through pompous speeches by award recipients was a real treat. Host Jimmy Kimmel dabbled in a bit of politics when he took a gentle swipe at Republican Senator Katie Britt and a not so gentle shot at would-be president-again Donald Trump.

Britt is the Alabama senator who gave the ridiculously over-the-top official response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech the other night. Kimmel mentioned Emma Stone’s nomination for best actress in Poor Things, saying she played an adult woman with the brain of a child “like the lady that gave the rebuttal to the State of the Union on Thursday night.” (Stone went on to be the surprise winner of the award.)

But he saved his best for Trump, who posted a social media comment during the ceremonies calling Kimmel possibly the worst Oscars host ever and describing the show as “disjointed, boring, and very unfair.” The ex-president finished up with “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” Of course he did.

Kimmel read out the text of the post using his cellphone, thanked Trump for watching, then expressed surprise he was still up. “Isn’t it past your jail time?” he asked.

Well, who can blame Kimmel for that? A few attendees wore red pins in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, and a pro-Palestinian protest out on the street delayed the start of the ceremony for a few minutes but otherwise it stuck to the objective of presenting awards for good work in cinema, which is what it should do.

And, incidentally, no offence to Emma Stone but there’s no way Sandra Hüller shouldn’t have been given the Best Actress award for her amazing performance in Anatomy of a Fall. (And Messi/ Snoop the dog should have won Best Canine Actor if there had been such an award. But at least he had a good seat at the show.)

Likewise, though Best Actor winner Cillian Murphy was good in Oppenheimer, I liked Paul Giamatti better in The Holdovers. Although I enjoy an occasional blockbuster like Napoleon or Oppenheimer, I tend to favour “small” pictures like The Holdovers, Past Lives and Anatomy of a Fall anyway.

All in all, though, there were so many good things about this year’s Academy Awards I guess I shouldn’t complain.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.