Host Chris Rock wasted no time addressing the elephant in the room—the controversy over the lack of diversity of Oscar nominees—at the 88th Academy Awards Feb. 28.
"You realize, if they nominated hosts, I wouldn't even have this job," he said, adding that Neil Patrick Harris would probably have hosted. Rock then talked about how African-Americans didn't protest in the 1950s and 1960s because there were other relevant issues at hand: "You know, when your grandmother's swinging from a tree, it's really hard to care about Best Documentary Foreign Short."
Rock also rolled out a couple video montages that poked fun at the lack of diversity, including one that put African-American spins on films such as The Martian, Joy and The Danish Girl—with the last one featuring comedian Tracy Morgan, who was once in hot water with the LGBT community regarding controversial jokes he made.
Speaking of the LGBT demographic, singer Sam Smith (along with songwriter Jimmy Napes) won the Academy Award for best song for "Writing's on the Wall," the theme song from the most recent James Bond movie, Spectre. Smith dedicated the award to the LGBT community around the world after saying he had heard no other gay man had won an Oscar—an error since others have won (including screenwriter Dustin Lance Black for Milk, Rob Epstein and Richard Schmeichen for best documentary in 1984, Pedro Almodovar, Bill Condon, Alan Ball, and for music, John Corigliano, Howard Ashman, Elton John and Stephen Sondheim, plus women have won too: lesbian director Debra Chasnoff in the early 1990s for a documentary short, and bisexual actress Angelina Jolie).
However, in the age of social media, not even Smith's win was safe from controversy. Lady Gaga was heavily favored to win the category because of "Til It Happens to You," a song for the college sexual-assault documentary The Hunting Ground. (In addition, she gave a powerful performance, complete with male and female survivors standing beside her on stage—and Vice President Joe Biden introduced her.) Gaga's fans (called "Little Monsters") expressed their outrage over Smith's win, TheWrap noted. One fan tweeted, "Even as a huge Sam Smith fan I have to say the Oscar should've gone to Lady Gaga tonight. Bloody hell. Absolutely gobsmaked [sic]."
There was no controversy about Alicia Vikander's win for best supporting actress for The Danish Girl. In the film, Vikander plays Gerda Wegener, the spouse to Eddie Redmayne's Lili Elbe, who is a transgender woman. However, transgender Oscar nominee Anohni opted to skip the Academy Awards after not being invited to perform, The Washington Blade noted. Anohni was nominated for Best Original Song for "Manta Ray," recorded for the documentary Racing Extinction.
Carol—a lesbian-themed movie based on a Patricia Highsmith novel—failed to snag a win, including for best actress (Cate Blanchett) and best supporting actress (Rooney Mara).
Also, trans actress Holly Woodlawn and gay writer/director Richard Glatzer (Quinceanera; Still Alice) were among those in the "In Memoriam" segment.
Mad Max: Fury Road took the most awards at the event, with six (although they were technical honors). The Revenant won three, including best director (Alejandro G. Inarritu) and best actor (Leonardo DiCaprio, who won his first Oscar on his sixth nomination). Brie Larson won best actress for Room and Mark Rylance was named best supporting actor for Bridge of Spies, besting the favored Sylvester Stallone (Creed).
Spotlight—a drama about the Boston Globe team that reported on the Catholic Church's sex-abuse cover-up—took honors for best film. (Page Six noted that Spotlight star Mark Ruffalo participated in a rally outside a Catholic church hours before the Oscars started.) Amy, a look at the life of late singer Amy Winehouse, won for best documentary.
See Oscars.org for the full list of winners .
