Unless you’re a movie buff, you may no longer remember which movie won the Oscar last year, who won best director, or who won best actor and best actress. What he definitely didn’t forget was footage of actor Will Smith slapping host Chris Rock for his unfortunate comments about Smith’s wife’s shaved head. They will remain on the retina of viewers for many years. It was an event that marked the entire premiere and had all kinds of consequences, from the actor being banned from Hollywood events for ten years, to the tight security measures taken by the Academy to ensure that such incidents would not happen again this year. Because the scandal of Will Smith and Chris Rock won’t be the last. But it wasn’t the first..
Since the NBC television network decided to broadcast the Oscars live in 1953, interest and audiences have grown with each edition until it has become one of the most important cultural events in the world. What happened during the gala had such an impact internationally that it was used many times to convey unpredictable messages and demands that were not quite to the liking of the organizers, and there have been reprehensible and even scandalous events throughout the history of the gala.
Now that there has been so much talk about changes made to the language of some literary works to make them more inclusive, it should be noted that one of the first works to apply this nonsense was “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell. , to deprive of expressions that could be considered racist. The film adaptation of “Gone with the Wind” won eight of the thirteen Oscars it was nominated for in 1940. it was for one of them Hattie McDanielWho was the first black actress to win an Oscar? Hattie McDaniel during the ceremony could not sit next to his fellow candidates and was relegated to a chair against the back wall of the room, an extremely racist decision.
If Hattie McDaniel was the first black actress to win an Oscar, she was also the first black actor to win the award. sydney poitier For her role in the movie “Lilies of the Valley” in 1963. He could not get rid of the racism discussions because the actor Anne BancroftIt occurred to him to give her a congratulatory kiss on the cheek, handing her the statuette, a gesture that caused a scandal among the most reactionary audience, who protested loudly.
Another controversial kiss Angelina Jolie to your brother James paradise She’s on the red carpet at the 2000 ceremony when she received her Oscar for “Girl Interrupted.” Of course the kiss was on the mouth, so some of the public censored the episode.
If the Oscars of black actors were delayed, the nominations of black-directed films were delayed even more. The first was “Los chicos del barrio”. john singleton in 1992. There would be no other nominations for a movie directed by a black person until 2010. It was “Precious” by Lee Daniels. And until a black director wins an Oscar steve mcqueen He received the statuette with “12 Years a Slave” in 2013. Then it would be Barry Jenkins with “Moonlight” in 2016. Spike Lee won the best adapted screenplay award for “The Spy at KKKlansman” in 2018.
One of the most vividly remembered scandals was the actor’s ceremony in 1973. Marlon Brando Not only did he decide not to get the Oscar he won for “The Godfather,” but instead Sacheen Little Feather, an actress dressed in traditional Apache garb, posing as a North American Indian civil rights activist reading a manifesto protesting Hollywood’s treatment of American Indians in movies. As in the Will Smith and Chris Rock case, the incident prompted Hollywood to change the Oscar rules, including an acceptance clause.
actor in 1974 David Niven read a little poem before introducing Elizabeth Taylor, the one who will give an Oscar. Unexpectedly, she sneaked into a spontaneous scene and revealed herself naked behind the actor’s back. The person who wanted to justify the gay and gay community with this gesture was photographer and human rights activist Robert Opel, but his appearance was not in the script and shrunk in a matter of seconds. He was definitely one of the first male nudes in American cinema.
Actress Jodie Foster In 1992, she was awarded an Oscar for her role in “Silence of the Lambs,” which was considered homophobic by gay and lesbian activist groups such as Queer Nation, who protested with banners when the actress left the ceremony. Shortly after, Jodie Foster announced her lesbian status.
There were also cases of protests against the Academy’s decisions. actor in 1990 who baserThe nominee for “Dead Poets Club” was critical of the Academy’s failure to award Spike Lee the “Do the right thing” award. Seeing that his defense did not receive a big round of applause, Kim Bassinger encouraged the audience to applaud louder. The next day, the press emphasized that the dress worn by the actress (which occupied four seats in the stalls) was the ugliest dress in all of Hollywood history.
The organizers of Oscar distribution galas don’t like anything the hosts pull out of the established scripts.
In 1974, “Hearts and Minds” won the award for best documentary critical of the Vietnam War. your producer bert schneider While collecting the award, he took the opportunity to deliver an anti-war speech and thank the Vietnamese communist government for the facilities provided for the shooting, while receiving these words that caused protests among those attending the gala. To calm things down, it was decided to read a statement that the organization is not responsible for the views of the winners. read text Frank SinatraAnd Warren Beatty He made a face ugly by calling him a republican geezer.
That’s because the organizers of Oscar distribution galas don’t like anything the presenters pull out of the established scripts. in 1993 Susan Sarandon And Tim Robbins Demanding that the Haitian AIDS patients held at the Guantanamo base be welcomed in the United States, the organizer of the ceremony decided never to be invited again, as his demeanor was “scandalous, disgusting, and dishonest”. That same night, he had more to do, as there was another winner. Richard Gere, after receiving her Oscar for “Beautiful Woman”, condemned the human rights violations in China and the oppression that this country inflicts on Tibetan citizens. It took twenty years for Gere to attend a ceremony again.
In 1993, Judy Davis, Vanessa Redgrave, Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson and Marisa Tomey. Despite everything, it seems that the presenter received the statuette second, since he is an actor. Jack Palance, accidentally read the name. This mistake was never noticed, and Tomey continues to receive his Oscar for his poor performance in “My Cousin Vinny.”
Fortunately, a similar bug was fixed by the servers in 2016. Faye Dunaway And Warren Beatty He announced that the best picture Oscar was for “La la land”. after the producers Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling he stepped on stage and began reading his speech, having to interrupt as it was announced that he had won an Oscar for “Moonlight” and there was a mess in the envelopes.
To conclude, I will tell you that this kind of confusion is not unique to Hollywood. Unexpected attitudes and unwritten statements are often recorded at the Grammy Awards. At the 1975 Country Music Association Awards, singer Charlie Rich was tasked with opening an envelope and announcing the winner of the best artist category, but when he saw the name of his hated John Denver, he pulled out a lighter. and burned the ballot.