Who else watched Neil Patrick Harris flaunt his body live on TV on Sunday night?
Well, I did. I never thought I would write that sentence. It just goes to show you that life, and the Oscars, are full of surprises.
Neil Patrick Harris in tighty whities aside, I thought the Oscars were a bit of a flop. Sure, it was awesome to see the all the stars; Lady Gaga received a standing ovation for her performance, and Julie Andrews was stunning, but there were also some pretty darn awkward moments.
We all know the big winners, and most of them were well-deserved: “Birdman” won Best Picture, Julianne Moore’s Oscar for Best Actress in “Still Alice” was uncontested, and personally, I’m hella pleased that “Big Hero 6” took home Best Animated Feature Film.
But then there was Neil Patrick Harris. I usually love him and the cute pictures he posts of his family on Twitter, but he was just trying too hard this weekend. Ellen DeGeneres left some pretty big shoes to fill as host, and Harris wasn’t quite up to size. The stunt with his Oscar predictions — actual events during the show — locked in a briefcase and guarded by Octavia Spencer was annoying until the very end of the night, when it became eerily accurate — but still mostly annoying. Most of the opening number was such a chipper, happy-go-lucky performance it made my teeth hurt just by watching it.
All in all, the best one-liner from Harris was his opening joke: “Tonight we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest — sorry, brightest.” Ouch. Harris’ statement was a well-placed dart at the academy for their frankly ridiculous exclusion of any people of color in the line-up for the Oscars this year. Although they faced criticism for this from multiple platforms, the academy still refused to nominate any women or people of color for awards in any of the major categories. For Pete’s sake, “Selma” was robbed, OK?
The academy has had its problems with racism and sexism before and probably will in the future, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be upset. It’s a message for us to keep working toward something.
Patricia Arquette’s acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress was a bright note in the evening, a vehement call for political and economic equality for women. It was a powerful speech, and one of the more popular moments of the ceremony — seeing Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez fan-girling together over it made my night infinitely more enjoyable. But her speech has come under criticism for excluding the LGBT community and women of color in its feminist message and further in her comments after the show ended.
Arquette’s speech was full of good intentions, and I applaud her honestly, but let’s face its flaws. For me, feminism is either intersectional or pointless.
In all the polls, Arquette was a shoo-in for the Oscar. Her performance in “Boyhood” is lauded far and wide by critics, but what made it such an obvious choice was the weakness of its competition. This is disappointing. As a Time magazine article summed it up: “Each of the roles nominated in the category can be boiled down to a basic female archetype: mother, daughter, girlfriend, or witch.”
I love all the women who were nominated for Best Supporting Actress. They all did a great job, but the characters they played lacked extra spice that catapults a role into being Oscar-worthy.
Keira Knightley, for example, had such a side part in “The Imitation Game” that I was surprised the character was even considered.
Hollywood needs to remember that the push for strong female roles doesn’t only apply to leading ladies. If the only way for a woman to land a nuanced, well-characterized role is in a starring part, then women still have a long way to go in the world of cinema.
The 2015 Oscars had a few excellent performances, many lovely outfits and some shocking moments, but it also demonstrated the degree of change needed in the film industry. The new year of movies starts now, and I wonder what progress it will bring.
Sally Greider is a UF English and public relations sophomore. Her column appears on Tuesdays.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 2/24/2015 under the headline “Oscars a flop; in desperate need for progress, equality”]
