A lot of people were nervous about the monologue that would open the88th Annual Academy Awardsthis year. The2016 Oscarshave come under a lot of pressure for a lack of diversity, with controversy and boycotts at the forefront of this particular telecast. What would hostChris Rocksay? It was easily one of the most intense, most anticipated moments to hit live television in quite some time.
The88th Annual Academy Awardswere handed out live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California last night, andChris Rockkicked off the festivities in a fashion that was both very funny and thoughtful, smoothing the waters in just the right way. His entrance was easily one of the biggest moments of the night, and now, thanks to the Academy, we have the full video for you to watch here.
Chris Rockdoesn’t waste anytime in addressing the #OscarsSoWhite controversy in his opening monologue. As you’ve probably heard, for the second year in a row, no actors of color were nominated. This lead to a much publicized backlash from many prominent African-American stars and filmmakers, who took the Academy to task for itsdiversityissues. Academy presidentCheryl Boone Isaacseven released a statement last month, revealing the organization’s plans to increase diversity among its members by the year 2020. Here’s some of whatChris Rockhad to say in direct relation to this.
“This is the wildest, craziest Oscars to ever host, because we’ve got all this controversy. No, no black nominees, you know, and people are like ‘Chris, you should boycott. Chris, you should quit. You should quit.’ How come there’s only unemployed people that tell you to quit something, you know? No one with a job ever tells you to quit. So, I thought about quitting. I thought about it real hard. But, I realized, they’re gonna have the Oscars anyway. They’re not gonna cancel the Oscars because I quit. You know? And the last thing I need is to lose another job toKevin Hart, O.K.?”
As for the awards themselves,SpotlightwonBest Picture, only taking home one other award for Best OriginalScreenplay(Thomas McCarthy, Josh Singer).Mad Max: Fury Roadtook home the most awards with six, although it was shut out of the major awards. The only other movie that won multiple awards wasThe Revenant, which won three Oscars, Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Director (Alejandro González Iñárritu) and Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki).
What was your favorite part ofChris Rock’s monologue? Did he get it right? Do you thinkChris Rockwas a great host and should come back next year? Take a look at everything he had to say about #OscarsSoWhite from last night’s live telecast.
