Before we go too much further, here were some of the winners at the 94th Academy Awards, which were held Sunday night in Los Angeles:
- Best Supporting Actress went to Ariana DuBose for "West Side Story", the very same award Rita Moreno won back in 1961.
- Best Supporting Actor went to Troy Kotsur for "CODA".
- Jane Campion was named Best Director for "The Power of the Dog".
- Best Actress went to Jessica Chastain for "The Eyes of Tammy Faye".
- And the Oscar for Best Picture went to "CODA", the first to be seen mainly on a streaming service (Apple TV+).
- "Dune" won ten craft awards, most of which were relegated to commercial breaks.
- There was a musical number from the animated film "Encanto", which included Megan Thee Stallion, called "We Don't Talk About Bruno".
Right now, we need to talk about what happened between Will Smith, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith. Not Bruno. Together, they turned the Oscars from another overlong snoozefest into a horror show that even Hollywood couldn't have scripted.
In his monologue prior to announcing the award for Best Documentary, Rock made a tasteless joke about Pinkett Smith's hair. She has been living with alopecia, a hair loss disease that affects thousands of people per year in the U.S. alone. Will, her husband, took exception to the joke. He confronted Rock onstage, slapped him, then returned to his seat shouting expletives.
You might say Will was trying to defend his woman, but that's not how it looked to those who watched the incident inside the Dolby Theater and on TV around the world. In the olden days, a slap on the face with a velvet glove was often an invitation to a duel, which was settled with guns at the crack of dawn. It has evolved into shootouts on the mean streets of Dodge City or Tombstone, or just about any American city today.. At least that's according to Hollywood.
A few minutes later, Smith was announced as the winner of the Best Actor Oscar for "King Richard"--his first. He played Richard Williams, who taught his daughters Venus and Serena how to be tennis champions in a mostly unorthodox manner. Smith used his acceptance speech to apologize to everyone except Rock for the incident, and to explain that Williams also did all he could to protect his daughters.
In the aftermath, it must be noted that Smith is one of the most powerful men in Hollywood and will likely survive this incident, even if it is now tainted. Rock, who has hosted the Oscars before, will now have to think a little more before making edgy jokes at the expense of his targets. And now standup comedians and other performers have to worry about idiots who get up on stage and harass them.
Today, Smith issued an apology to Rock and others on social media. To date, Rock has not filed criminal charges against Smith. And the Academy put up a statement denouncing violence, while deciding what to do about disciplining Smith. It's not likely that they'll ask for their Best Actor Oscar back.
The movies are a place for escape and fantasy, even in troubled times like these. What we didn't need was a dose of Reality TV.
UPDATE (4/9/22): The Academy has banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars for the next ten years, which is kind of a moot point since Smith said he was going to resign from the Academy anyway. Remember what we said about Smith being one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood? That'll certainly be put to the test going forward.
