The 2021 Oscars: A Night to Remember
Keiry Solis
The Oscars, also known as the Academy Awards, is a highly anticipated event within the film industry. This year's Oscars marked the 93rd anniversary of the ceremony—and possibly the most unusual one.
The Oscars were originally set to air on February 28th, but due to the pandemic, it was pushed back two months to April 25th. For the first time ever, the award show was held in two different locations. Half of the show was set in its usual location, the Dolby Theatre, and the other half was set in downtown Los Angeles at the historic Union Station — a significant landmark in cinematic history. The Union Station has made appearances in several films including, The Way We Were, To Live and Die in L.A., and The Dark Knight Rises. Steven Soderbergh, the producer of the Oscars, revealed that he chose the venue with the intention of portraying the awards show as a movie. It is questionable whether or not Soderbergh has been able to achieve this goal since many have already expressed their disappointment in his attempt.
The production of the awards show was challenging to say the least. The Oscars had to commemorate and celebrate the film industry during a time when, like most of the world, it was struggling. Crowds of journalists, the clicking of cameras, and the sounds of shrieking fans were not present at this year's awards show. The attendees at this year's Oscars were only allowed to bring one guest, so the number of people in the audience was quite small in comparison to previous years. The nominees and other guests were allowed to be maskless throughout the show, as long as they were fully vaccinated and socially distant. An Academy staffer further explained this year's regulations stating, “Because the ceremony . . . is being treated as a TV/film production, masks are not required for people on camera.” The need for social distancing and the decreased number of attendees contributed heavily to a loss of viewership and a sense of dullness throughout the ceremony. This year's audience was nearly dead silent—starkly different from the cheering crowds in previous years, which also led to the loss of interest. Acceptance speeches seemed to be the only source of entertainment throughout what proved to be an unsuccessful showing, as the 2021 Oscars ceremony had the lowest viewership to date with only 10 million views. Not to mention, there was a 56% drop in viewership compared to last year's awards. A decade ago, the program received roughly 40 million views.
Many viewers agreed that the ceremony’s most mentionable moment was Chloé Zhao’s history-making wins. Zhao's latest film, Nomadland, won the Oscar for Best Picture, and Zhao herself won the Oscar for Best Director. Zhao’s wins make her the second woman and the first woman of color in Oscars history to win Best Director. With four nominations in other categories, ABC7 and other platforms adorned Zhao with the title of “the most nominated woman in a single year in Oscar history.” Yuh-Jung Youn, the winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, became the first Korean actress to win an Academy Award. Youn graciously accepted the award and expressed how taken aback she was by the victory.
Viewers and critics took notice of the change in the last award of the night. Usually, the Oscars end with the Best Picture award, but this year, the producers decided to end the show with the award for Best Actor. Many anticipated that the late Chadwick Boseman would be named as the winner for his role in Ma Rainey's Black Bottoms. However, to the displeasure of many, Boseman lost to Anthony Hopkins. The final award has always been the main highlight of the program, but this year ended noticeably more anticlimactically than others. Hopkins was unable to attend, so Joaquin Phoenix, the presenter, accepted the award on his behalf. Phoenix closed the show immediately after. This abrupt finale was a fitting ending to a very unusual award show. Nonetheless, the 2021 Oscars will surely remain in our memories for quite some time.
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