‘I am an immigrant,’ Mexican director Guillermo del Toro said as he accepted his award for Best Director.
The 90th annual Academy Awards’ attempts at inclusion were not enough to keep viewers watching. The broadcast’s ratings dropped 19% from last year to 26.5 million viewers, making Sunday night’s lengthy broadcast the least-watched Oscars of all time.
The dip in interest may been down to the surprise-free night: Statuettes were divided between titles that had been expected to win, with no one movie sweeping the board. The winners appeased mounting demands for diversity, recognizing a movie by a Mexican director (The Shape of Water), a title that tackled Latino culture (Coco) and another that depicted the horrors of racism (Get Out).
But Hollywood’s glitziest evening was tasked with an impossible balancing act: To advertise American filmmaking while also addressing industry issues of sexual harassment, racism and pay disparity that have come to the fore in recent months.
Oscars 2018: Full List Of Winners
Prior to the event, it appeared producers hoped to minimize discussion of sexual harassment and Time’s Up, the multifaceted initiative formed by more than 300 women in Hollywood to stamp out sexual harassment across industries. In the press room backstage, a representative requested journalists direct questions to the events of the night, in an apparent attempt to guide comments away from sexual harassment.
But anyone hoping for a show light on social justice were to be sorely disappointed. Host Jimmy Kimmel’s barbed opening monologue quickly tackled the #MeToo movement, sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein and the equal pay debate.
Kimmel joked that Oscar, the name of the golden statuette awarded at the event, is Hollywood’s ideal man: “He keeps his hands where you can see them, never says a rude word—and most importantly, no penis at all. He is literally a statue of limitations.”
Last year’s flub hung heavy over the ceremony. Kimmel’s speech addressed the mix-up, when La La Land was incorrectly named Best Picture over Moonlight. This year, envelopes were conspicuously emblazoned with category titles to avoid a similar mishap.
Jordan Peele won Best Original Screenplay Oscar for ‘Get Out,’ which he wrote and directed.
But there was some progress. Three years after #OscarsSoWhite accusations first challenged the inclusivity of the Academy’s 7,200-strong membership and their voting selections, this year’s Oscars highlighted a handful of creators of color. Disney’s animated offering Coco, which explored the Mexican holiday of the Day of the Dead as voiced by Latino actors, took home two awards, which many considered a win for Latino culture.
“We work very hard to show that films about communities of color, films that come from particular places have a resonance that can reach across the world,” said Coco screenwriter Adrian Molina. “We’ve seen that with Coco, we’ve seen that with Black Panther, and I think you’re going to see it with a lot of other films in the future.”
Mexican director Guillermo del Toro scored Best Picture and Best Director with his fantastical romance The Shape of Water. The curious story of a mute janitor who falls in love with an aquatic creature tallied four wins in total, more than any other movie.
Get Out‘s Jordan Peele made history when he became the first African-American writer ever to win an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He wrote and directed the hit, which grossed $255 million on a $4.5 million budget.
“It’s a renaissance,” said Peele backstage of the recent spate of movies including Moonlight and Mudbound made by black auteurs. “I’m so proud to be a part of a time where I feel like the best films in every genre are being brought to me by my fellow black directors.”
Still, not a single performing award went to an actor of color.
Among studios, 21st Century Fox scored big, nabbing six awards with both The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Streaming giant Netflix pocketed its second Oscar ever with Best Documentary Feature Icarus.
Talk of female empowerment featured prominently: The Time’s Up movement was acknowledged in a segment by Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek and Annabella Sciorra, who were among the scores of women who accused producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct. (He has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.)
Frances McDormand won Best Actress for ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.’
Frances McDormand, who won Best Actress for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, used her acceptance speech to invite all female nominees in the audience to stand up. “Look around, ladies and gentlemen, because we all have stories to tell and projects we need financed,” she said onstage. “Invite us into your office in a couple days, or you can come to ours, whatever suits you best, and we’ll tell you all about them.”
McDormand, 60, also advocated for use of a so-called inclusion rider by performers during negotiation that would demand at least 50% diversity in casting and film crews.
But despite messages of girl power, this was not the year for female winners. Just six women won Oscars compared to 33 men, two of those in gender-specific categories. The four women who won back-of-camera categories shared their wins with men. Greta Gerwig, the first woman to be nominated for Best Director since Kathryn Bigelow in 2009, did not take home the statuette. In fact, her movie, Lady Bird, did not cinch any of the five categories it was nominated in.
For some, the #MeToo messages rang hollow. While Hollywood figures accused of sexual harassment or assault, including James Franco and Casey Affleck, were absent, others were anointed onstage. Kobe Bryant won an Oscar for his contributions to Animated Short Dear Basketball, despite being charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment in a 2003 rape case that was dismissed after the accuser would not testify (he apologized to her). Best Actor winner Gary Oldman was accused of domestic assault by his ex-wife in a 2001 filing; he denied the claims. And E! red carpet host Ryan Seacrest, who was accused last month of sexually abusing his stylist, maintained his post. Seacrest has denied the claims.
Even the Oscars couldn’t overcome the biggest issue plaguing Hollywood: Dropping theater attendance. North American cinema turnout dipped approximately 4% in 2017 to the lowest total in roughly two decades. Instead of rewarding viewers, Sunday’s broadcast recognized niche films that few Americans were even able to see: Five of this year’s nine Best Picture nominees opened on fewer than 2,000 screens.
Entertainment is increasingly stratified between the movies people go see and the movies that win awards. Wonder Woman was not nominated in a single category, despite grossing $821.8 million in 2017.
To win more viewers, the Oscars may have to reward popular films, too.
Read more:
Oscar Nominees 2018: Full List And Projected Winners
Backstage At The Oscars: Inside The 2018 Green Room
Oscars 2018: By The Numbers
Inside The $100,000 Oscars Gift Bag Of 2018
Oscars 2018: How Nominated Movies Rank At The Box Office
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‘I am an immigrant,’ Mexican director Guillermo del Toro said as he accepted his award for Best Director.
The 90th annual Academy Awards’ attempts at inclusion were not enough to keep viewers watching. The broadcast’s ratings dropped 19% from last year to 26.5 million viewers, making Sunday night’s lengthy broadcast the least-watched Oscars of all time.
The dip in interest may been down to the surprise-free night: Statuettes were divided between titles that had been expected to win, with no one movie sweeping the board. The winners appeased mounting demands for diversity, recognizing a movie by a Mexican director (The Shape of Water), a title that tackled Latino culture (Coco) and another that depicted the horrors of racism (Get Out).
But Hollywood’s glitziest evening was tasked with an impossible balancing act: To advertise American filmmaking while also addressing industry issues of sexual harassment, racism and pay disparity that have come to the fore in recent months.
Oscars 2018: Full List Of Winners
Prior to the event, it appeared producers hoped to minimize discussion of sexual harassment and Time’s Up, the multifaceted initiative formed by more than 300 women in Hollywood to stamp out sexual harassment across industries. In the press room backstage, a representative requested journalists direct questions to the events of the night, in an apparent attempt to guide comments away from sexual harassment.
But anyone hoping for a show light on social justice were to be sorely disappointed. Host Jimmy Kimmel’s barbed opening monologue quickly tackled the #MeToo movement, sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein and the equal pay debate.
Kimmel joked that Oscar, the name of the golden statuette awarded at the event, is Hollywood’s ideal man: “He keeps his hands where you can see them, never says a rude word—and most importantly, no penis at all. He is literally a statue of limitations.”
Last year’s flub hung heavy over the ceremony. Kimmel’s speech addressed the mix-up, when La La Land was incorrectly named Best Picture over Moonlight. This year, envelopes were conspicuously emblazoned with category titles to avoid a similar mishap.
Jordan Peele won Best Original Screenplay Oscar for ‘Get Out,’ which he wrote and directed.
But there was some progress. Three years after #OscarsSoWhite accusations first challenged the inclusivity of the Academy’s 7,200-strong membership and their voting selections, this year’s Oscars highlighted a handful of creators of color. Disney’s animated offering Coco, which explored the Mexican holiday of the Day of the Dead as voiced by Latino actors, took home two awards, which many considered a win for Latino culture.
“We work very hard to show that films about communities of color, films that come from particular places have a resonance that can reach across the world,” said Coco screenwriter Adrian Molina. “We’ve seen that with Coco, we’ve seen that with Black Panther, and I think you’re going to see it with a lot of other films in the future.”
Mexican director Guillermo del Toro scored Best Picture and Best Director with his fantastical romance The Shape of Water. The curious story of a mute janitor who falls in love with an aquatic creature tallied four wins in total, more than any other movie.
Get Out‘s Jordan Peele made history when he became the first African-American writer ever to win an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He wrote and directed the hit, which grossed $255 million on a $4.5 million budget.
“It’s a renaissance,” said Peele backstage of the recent spate of movies including Moonlight and Mudbound made by black auteurs. “I’m so proud to be a part of a time where I feel like the best films in every genre are being brought to me by my fellow black directors.”
Still, not a single performing award went to an actor of color.
Among studios, 21st Century Fox scored big, nabbing six awards with both The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Streaming giant Netflix pocketed its second Oscar ever with Best Documentary Feature Icarus.
Talk of female empowerment featured prominently: The Time’s Up movement was acknowledged in a segment by Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek and Annabella Sciorra, who were among the scores of women who accused producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct. (He has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.)
Frances McDormand won Best Actress for ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.’
Frances McDormand, who won Best Actress for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, used her acceptance speech to invite all female nominees in the audience to stand up. “Look around, ladies and gentlemen, because we all have stories to tell and projects we need financed,” she said onstage. “Invite us into your office in a couple days, or you can come to ours, whatever suits you best, and we’ll tell you all about them.”
McDormand, 60, also advocated for use of a so-called inclusion rider by performers during negotiation that would demand at least 50% diversity in casting and film crews.
But despite messages of girl power, this was not the year for female winners. Just six women won Oscars compared to 33 men, two of those in gender-specific categories. The four women who won back-of-camera categories shared their wins with men. Greta Gerwig, the first woman to be nominated for Best Director since Kathryn Bigelow in 2009, did not take home the statuette. In fact, her movie, Lady Bird, did not cinch any of the five categories it was nominated in.
For some, the #MeToo messages rang hollow. While Hollywood figures accused of sexual harassment or assault, including James Franco and Casey Affleck, were absent, others were anointed onstage. Kobe Bryant won an Oscar for his contributions to Animated Short Dear Basketball, despite being charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment in a 2003 rape case that was dismissed after the accuser would not testify (he apologized to her). Best Actor winner Gary Oldman was accused of domestic assault by his ex-wife in a 2001 filing; he denied the claims. And E! red carpet host Ryan Seacrest, who was accused last month of sexually abusing his stylist, maintained his post. Seacrest has denied the claims.
Even the Oscars couldn’t overcome the biggest issue plaguing Hollywood: Dropping theater attendance. North American cinema turnout dipped approximately 4% in 2017 to the lowest total in roughly two decades. Instead of rewarding viewers, Sunday’s broadcast recognized niche films that few Americans were even able to see: Five of this year’s nine Best Picture nominees opened on fewer than 2,000 screens.
Entertainment is increasingly stratified between the movies people go see and the movies that win awards. Wonder Woman was not nominated in a single category, despite grossing $821.8 million in 2017.
To win more viewers, the Oscars may have to reward popular films, too.
Read more:
Oscar Nominees 2018: Full List And Projected Winners
Backstage At The Oscars: Inside The 2018 Green Room
Oscars 2018: By The Numbers
Inside The $100,000 Oscars Gift Bag Of 2018
Oscars 2018: How Nominated Movies Rank At The Box Office
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