President Donald Trump was 3,000 miles away from the Oscars on Sunday night, but his presence was larger in the Dolby Theater than anyone else in the room. From Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue to the acceptance speeches to the announcements punctuating the ceremony, it seemed at times as if the Oscars were more focused on delivering a very public rebuke of Trump than on celebrating the art of filmmaking.
The question is how effective such forms of protest are, in a media environment that more than half of Americans think about Journalism is very critical For the current president. Kimmel was one of the few figures in the room to mention Trump; Others largely chose to tweet anonymously. While jibes about the president and his Twitter commentary made for easy punchlines, the most poignant and memorable moments of the night were ones that chose to show, not tell, to reveal how Trump’s policies are in direct conflict with the spirit of art in general. And cinema in particular.
Trump was an irresistible target for Kimmel, who attacked the former Oscars host from the beginning. He joked: “This broadcast is watched live by millions of Americans, and all over the world in more than 225 countries that hate us now.” He was briefly serious, forcing everyone who watched him to reach out to one person with whom they disagreed and have a “positive, thoughtful conversation, not as a liberal or a conservative” — something he asserted could make America great again. But then it was back to business as usual: She thanked the Department of Homeland Security for allowing French actress Isabelle Hubert into the country, and pointed to Andrew Garfield’s dramatic weight loss for a role as proof that Hollywood discriminates not against nationality, but against age and weight. An extended gag mocking Meryl Streep’s ‘uninspiring and over-the-top’ performance looked like it was ripped straight from Trump Private cash The actress after the Golden Globe Awards.
The second prize, in the makeup and hairstyling category, went to Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini, and Christopher Nelson for their work. Suicide squad. “I am an immigrant. I come from Italy,” Bertolazzi said, accepting the award. “I work all over the world and this is for all immigrants.” His sentiments were echoed in more specific terms by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who won Best Foreign Language Film for his film . SellerBut he elected not to attend the ceremony in protest against Trump’s decision to ban immigration in seven Muslim-majority countries. His award was received by Iranian-American astronaut Anousheh Ansari, who read Farhadi’s statement aloud. “Dividing the world into we and Our enemies Categories create fears,” she read, as Farhadi called the immigration law “inhumane” earlier this year. “Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture common human qualities and break down stereotypes of different nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others. Empathy that we need today more than ever.”
One anchor also used the opportunity to put a human face on Trump’s policies. Actor Gael Garcia Bernal, who co-presented the award for Best Animated Feature, quickly backtracked in a statement, saying: “As a Mexican, as a Latin American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, I am against anything.” Form the wall that divides us.” And last year’s Best Supporting Actor winner, Mark Rylance, briefly reflected on how actors and filmmakers can work to unite Americans. “Dissent is great in movies and stories, and it’s great in sports, and it’s good,” he said. Really in the community.” “The things these films made me remember and think about is the difficulty — something women seem to be better at than men — in dissent without hatred.”
But Kimmel’s Trump jokes never ran dry. Marvel movie Doctor Strange Not only was he nominated for visual effects, but he was also appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Introducing Academy President Cheryl Boone-Isaac, Kimmel noted how wonderful it is to have “a president who believes in the arts and sciences.” At one point, Kimmel noticed Trump’s silence on Twitter during the ceremony, displaying his phone on a screen at the back of the stage and tweeting, “Hey @RealDonaldTrump, are you awake?” on the president, followed by the hashtag “#merylsayshi.”
This was expert-level trolling, intended solely to belittle Trump and remind him that he is more disreputable in Hollywood than ever. This may be cathartic, but coming from a place of power, there is little the president can do that directly threatens the film industry. But it could, for example, stop funding the Nuclear Energy Agency, which has a long history of helping projects (such as the 2012 drama). Beasts of the Southern Wild) and artists who later rose to academy glory. Pointing out the president’s personal failings will almost certainly do that Viral tweetsBut identifying how his policies harm the arts and entertainment industries could have a more profound impact in the long term.
The most powerful moments of the ceremony, in the end, were those that illuminated the people who had been excluded by the president’s policies. Accepting the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay moonlight, Barry Jenkins, also a Best Picture winner, had a message for the people for whom the film was made. “For all the people who feel like there is no mirror for them, you feel like your life is not being reflected, the academy supports you, the ACLU supports you, we support you, and for the world,” he said. “The next four years… we will not forget you.” In one of the most memorable Academy Award acceptance speeches ever, Viola Davis explained her mission to make art. “You know, there’s one place where all the people with the greatest potential come together and that’s the cemetery,” she said. “People ask me all the time –What kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola? And I say exhume those bodies. Extract those stories – stories of people who had big dreams and never saw those dreams come true, people who fell in love and lost.
It appears that this type of messaging will have the greatest impact over the next four years. For one thing, President Trump has — for once — seemed remarkably resistant to all the trolling going on on stage. “Some of you will come up here on this stage tonight and give a speech that the President of the United States will tweet about in all caps while having a bowel movement at 5 a.m. tomorrow,” Kimmel said at one point. So far, though, there it was There is no such response.