The Daily Beast
Strangest Oscars Ever? From Snubbing Chadwick Boseman to ‘Da Butt’ and the Bizarre Stage
Todd Wawrychuk/Getty ImagesFor the first time in my lifetime, the Academy Awards weren’t a spectacle, but an awards show. I’ve never been so moved by it.I’ve also never been so frustrated by it. That was inevitable, given the circumstances circling the now-infamous pandemic Oscars, but also owed to a handful of chaotic producing decisions. (Where was the comedy? Could that whiplash-inducing In Memoriam segment have been more disrespectful? And Best Picture before Best Actor and Actress?!? Absolute nonsense.)An intimate gathering at a train station with satellite cameras in locations like London and Sydney, this year’s ceremonies felt nothing like the Oscars we know. That seems correct, as having an awards show at all in these times can feel completely inappropriate. The traditional glitz, bombast, and Hollywood narcissism needed Sunday night’s humbling. At the same time, it is a television show, one that needed more spark.There will be complaints that the night was…
