Written by Ally Abruscato. Photo courtesy of NPR.
We just witnessed some pretty intense Oscars and Grammy Awards. If you weren’t watching live, I’m sure you heard about the highlights.
“The slap heard around the world,” as people say, definitely caught a lot of attention. But besides the shocking slap, there were other noteworthy moments that were lost in the shadow.
One of the biggest moments of the Oscars were the big wins of “CODA”. Although the movie was not nominated for a lot of categories, it won in each one: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Picture.
In my opinion, the praise is well-deserved. “CODA,” an acronym for “Child of Deaf Adults,” follows the life of a high school senior named Ruby, who is the only hearing member of her family. Troy Kotsur who played the father in the film became the first deaf man to win an Oscar. The film’s success also boded well for Apple TV, as it was the first movie produced by a streaming service to win Best Picture. Overall, the wins of “CODA” were extremely exciting yet overshadowed by the controversial slap.
If you’ve been taking a very long nap since the Oscars and somehow haven’t heard about the slap, I’ll fill you in. While announcing the award for Best Documentary, Comedian Chris Rock made an inappropriate joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair. Her husband, the actor Will Smith, reacted rather intensely. He was seated close to the stage, so he walked up to Rock during his announcement and slapped him across the face. Rock laughed it off, and the audio cut out as Smith cursed at him. Afterward, Smith very awkwardly won Best Actor for his work in “King Richard.”
Smith has since resigned from the Academy and is banned from attending the Oscars for the next ten years. There are a lot of opinions circulating around the controversy, but the attention it caught overshadowed successes such as that of “CODA” and other talented winners.
I enjoy watching the awards shows and have seen a fair amount of them in my lifetime. Although I’m not an expert, I consider myself a casual viewer of the Oscars, Grammy Awards and maybe the Golden Globes if I’m feeling fancy.
Saying all this, I feel like the Grammy Awards were a bit different this year. I know that they usually have a lot of performances, but this year it seemed a little over the top. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the performances and seeing some of my favorite artists back on stage. However, it felt like I was watching a concert rather than an awards show. It’s not that it’s a bad feeling, but it definitely seemed different to me.
If you’re interested in seeing a full list of winners from both events, you can look at the Oscars and Grammy websites. A lot of the wins were well-deserved and should receive more attention. Make sure to check them out!
As Editor-in-Chief, Ally Abruscato leads and supports a talented group of staff and contributors in pursuing their creative endeavors. At SCAD, Ally majors in Photography and minors in Advertising & Branding. She regularly offers pop culture insights through movie reviews, articles and her weekly column, “I’m Booked.” When she’s not writing or taking photos, Ally’s probably outside, reading or running.
