People who like their Oscars apolitical didn’t get what they wanted as Sunday’s ceremony quickly went political — but didn’t mention Vladimir Putin.
Regina Hall, one of the three co-hosts alongside Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer, set things up by talking about how “toxic masculinity” turned into “cruelty to women and children.”
“Damn that Mitch McConnell,” quipped Sykes. Hall was of course actually summarizing the plot of Jane Campion’s heavily favored The Power of the Dog.)
The hosts closed out their opening jokes with a gibe at Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law.
“We’re gonna have a great night tonight, and for you people in Florida, we’re gonna have a gay night,” said Sykes. The three hosts then chanted the word “gay.”
The show opened memorably as Schumer explained why there were three hosts: “This year the academy hired three women to host because it was cheaper than hiring one man,” she said.
Later she added, “You know what’s in the In Memoriam package this year? The Golden Globes.”
In a sign of how much has changed since last year’s ceremony — one of the first live awards shows since the pandemic not to require masks — Hall did a very funny bit in which she said certain COVID test results had gone missing. She said several people would need to come backstage for testing, and then summoned such attractive actors as Timothée Chalomet, Bradley Cooper, Simu Liu, and Tyler Perry.
She insisted they would need to disrobe offstage so she could “swab the back of your mouths with my tongue.”
As COVID raged across the country, such a joke might have been unthinkable. The fact that the Oscars would go for it suggests Hollywood believes serious progress has been made.
The Ukrainian crisis finally received its due 90 minutes into the ceremony when Mila Kunis, who was born in Ukraine, saluted her native country and the courage of its people as she introduced Reba McIntire singing the Oscar-nominated song “Somehow You Do,” from Kunis’ addiction drama “Four Good Days.”
The ceremony then held a moment of silence for Ukraine, and told viewers how they could donate to help Ukraine.
The lack of early references to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was no doubt a disappointment to Sean Penn: Prior to the ceremony, he said on CNN that he would “smelt” his Oscars if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy isn’t allowed to speak during the broadcast.
“There is nothing greater that the Academy Awards could do than to give him that opportunity to talk to all of us,” Penn said. He added that he would be prepared for a public smelting if it wasn’t in the cards.
“When I return, I will smelt mine in public,” he said. “I pray that’s not what happens.”
Beyoncé, bedecked in lime green and surrounded by similarly attired dancers and musicians, kicked off the ceremony with “Be Alive,” her Oscar-nominated song from King Richard. The film tells the origin story of Venus and Serena Williams, and Beyonce appeared live from their hometown in Compton, about 20 miles from the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The opening by one of our biggest pop stars was one of many ways the ceremony tried to broaden its appeal, especially to younger viewers, after last year’s ceremony turned out to be the lowest-rated Oscars ever.
Another bid for popularity was the new #OscarsCheerMoment, an honorific voted on by Twitter users. In a testament to Zack Snyder’s massive Twitter fanbase, the winner was a big scene in Zack Snyder’s Justice League featuring young superhero The Flash.
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