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2022 just might have hosted the most exciting Oscars the world has seen in a long time. From the surprising wins to the physicality of the show, audiences were given an Academy Awards ceremony that was quite eventful.

It is impossible to talk about this year’s show without mentioning the altercation between Chris Rock and this year’s best actor, Will Smith. Chris Rock was on stage making jokes as he prepared to introduce the best documentary feature nominees. Rock’s jokes took small jabs at the famous audience members, as the hosts had been doing all night. After a couple jokes, Rock turned his attention to Jada Pinkett Smith. He said “‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it.” Smith took full offense to this — as did Jada because of her uncontrollable alopecia — which resulted in him marching up to Rock and slapping him across the face.

Smith walked away proudly and proceeded to yell, “Keep my wife’s name out your f*cking mouth!” from his seat at Rock. This incident led viewers to ask the question, “Was it real?” Some may say that it could have been a scripted fight to boost ratings for an awards show that has had decreasing ratings each year. And others think that it looked and seemed too real to be scripted, even if they are actors. Real or not, it set an unexpected mood for the night.

Aside from the dispute on stage, the awards made for a compelling night, as well. As mentioned before, Smith won best actor for “King Richard,” as expected. Jessica Chastain won best actress for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” This was an interesting win, as many predicted Nicole Kidman to go home with the award because of her win at the Golden Globes. Best director went to Jane Campion for “The Power of the Dog,” which makes back-to-back female best director winners — a first in Oscars history. Another historic win was Troy Kotsur for best supporting actor in “CODA.” Kotsur is a deaf actor who shined a light on the deaf acting community in his acceptance speech, specifically the importance of deaf theaters and the bridge between the deaf and hearing acting worlds. He is the first male deaf actor to win the award.

Fan favorite “Encanto” won best animated feature, and of course, for the biggest award of the night — best picture — the winner was “CODA.” Although this movie was not originally favored to win, it came away with the biggest prize of the night. This movie serves as a representation for those who have not always had the platform to share their voice, and it was able to spread its message again tonight.

This year’s show was a mix of cheesy jokes from the three hosts (Regina Hall, Wanda Sykes and Amy Schumer), politically aware one-liners from many celebrities and heartfelt speeches. There were also beautiful performances by many artists, such as the “Encanto” cast and Megan Thee Stallion (who became the first female rapper to perform at the Oscars), Beyoncé (who opened the show from the Compton tennis courts where the Williams sisters grew up) and Billie Eilish (who sang the Oscar-winning track “No Time To Die”). The Oscars have been looking for a revival of the celebration of cinema for a couple years now, and for some reasons more than others, it was found this year. Oscars 2022 made for one of the best awards shows of the past 10 years.

Published on March 28, 2022 at 10:34 pm