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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Thursday, August 5, 2021, — 25

Few events are as exciting
or significant to a film writ-
er as the Oscars. Normally,
the event offers the chance
to meet with talented ac-
tors and filmmakers during
a celebration of some of the
year’s biggest films. Yet in a
year filled with delays and
accommodations, it’s no sur-
prise that things didn’t quite
look the same at this year’s
Academy Awards. The typi-
cal January date, along with
the usual timeline for eligi-
ble films, was postponed by
three months. The setting
was, for lack of a better word,
intimate: Rather than invit-
ing all of Hollywood’s elite,
the ceremony was made up
of nominees, presenters and
plus-ones only, held in Los
Angeles’s Union Station with
nominees clustered around
small tables, as well as sat-
ellite locations around the
world. The event was regu-
lated by COVID-19 proto-
cols determined by a team
of epidemiologists (most of
whom Oscars producer Ste-
ven Soderbergh had met dur-
ing the creation of his film
“Contagion”). And, unlike in
normal years, press were not
allowed into the in-person
backstage area, but instead
brought into a Zoom meet-
ing — Michigan Daily writers
newly amongst them.

Despite Zoom snafus and
awkward silences, being at
this year’s Academy Awards
was an incredible chance to
view the inner workings of
the Academy and the press —
an experience that we truly
appreciated and enjoyed. For
one thing, watching a live
feed of the event without be-
ing subjected to ads was nice;
for another, it was an honor
to be present for some of the
inspiring words from win-
ners that only the press got to
hear and cherish. So even as
we were frantically switch-
ing between the ceremony
and the “backstage” inter-
views — truly, catching the
tail end of Glenn Close shak-
ing her booty while switch-
ing back from an interview
about production design was
unexpected — it was certain-
ly an experience to remem-
ber. Here are some of our
favorite moments from the
night. For a full list of win-
ners, click here.

Recognizing those who are
giving back in Hollywood

The Academy awarded two
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian
Awards this year, with one
going to the Motion Picture
and Television Fund and an-
other to Hollywood super-
star Tyler Perry. MPTF and
Perry join the likes of Frank
Sinatra,
Audrey
Hepburn

and Oprah Winfrey as the
40th and 41st winners of the
award, which is named for a
Danish-born actor, philan-
thropist and one-time MPTF
president. MPTF, a mutual
aid organization for the en-

tertainment industry, is cel-
ebrating its 100th year in
2021. MPTF also operates a
number of health and senior
centers in Los Angeles exclu-
sively for those in the indus-
try. The award was accepted
by Bob Beitcher, current
president and CEO of MPTF,
who said in his remarks, “We
really and truly take care of
our own.”

Tyler Perry, the producer,
director and star of the “Ma-
dea” films, was awarded
for his philanthropic work,
which includes picking up
seniors’ grocery bills, pay-
ing Rayshard Brooks’ fu-
neral expenses and opening
Camp Quarantine to keep
Tyler Perry Studios employ-
ees working during the pan-
demic. Perry gave a moving
acceptance speech, encour-
aging his audience to “refuse

hate.” He said that he is dedi-
cating the award to those
who “stand in the middle,”
adding, “that’s where heal-
ing happens. That’s where
conversation happens. That’s
where change happens.”

Everything’s Coming Up

Nomadland

Nomadland was the most
awarded film at this year’s
Oscars, winning in three of
its six nominated categories,
including Best Picture. Crit-
ics and bettors were fairly
certain
that
Nomadland

would win, and The Daily
predicted it too. There’s
something about that sweep-
ing yet subtle narrative and
grand imagery of the Ameri-
can landscape that was sure
to win the hearts of the
Academy’s voters. Frances
McDormand produced and
starred in Nomadland, so
she took the stage twice, also
winning for Best Actress in a
Leading Role.

At the end of the group Best
Picture acceptance speech,
McDormand paid tribute by
howling at the moon to No-
madland production sound
mixer Michael Wolf Snyder,
who recently died at age 35.
Chloé Zhao won the Oscar
for Best Directing as the sec-
ond woman and first woman
of color recognized with this
award. In her remarks, she

dedicated the win to “any-
one who had the faith and
the courage to hold on to
the goodness in themselves,
and to hold on to the good-
ness in each other, no matter
how difficult it is to do that.”
Speaking to the press back-
stage, Zhao’s message was
clear: “It’s pretty fabulous to
be a woman in 2021.”

Daniel Kaluuya’s charm and

passion

After winning Best Support-
ing Actor for his portrayal
of Black Panther Chairman
Fred Hampton in “Judas and
the Black Messiah,” Daniel
Kaluuya’s acceptance speech
touched on many different
topics with breathless ex-
citement. He shouted out co-
star LaKeith Stanfield (who
was also nominated in the
category) and praised the

Black Panther Party for their
work in the Black commu-
nity: “They showed us (the)
power of union, the power
of unity, that when they play
divide and conquer, we say
unite and ascend.” He fin-
ished his speech with a can-
did and now viral declaration
of his conception, but more
delightful were the words
that came after: “So I’m so
happy to be alive, so I’m go-
ing to celebrate that tonight,
do you know what I’m say-
ing?”

There’s no denying that the
man is charismatic. Back-
stage, the charm only contin-
ued as he talked to the press.
He spoke more about the in-
fluence of Fred Hampton and
the positive impact that “Ju-
das” will hopefully have on
those who watch it: “The fact
that I continue to stand on
this stage is because of what
he did. I think it’s just that,
that the legacy will continue.
It will continue, and people
will want to engage with the
story and the film and the
man.” His passion for the
story and the role was pal-
pable and really wonderful to
see. During an event after the
main ceremony, Kaluuya said
it frankly: “I just do work I
believe in.” Kaluuya’s per-
sonality and positivity made
him a particularly bright spot
in this year’s event.

Every word Youn Yuh-jung

said

As the crass, convivial grand-
mother Soon-ja in “Minari,”
Youn Yuh-jung never failed
to switch between laugh-
out-loud wit and heartwarm-
ing sentiments with ease. At
Sunday’s Academy Awards,
she did the same, accepting
the award for Best Support-
ing Actress with humility
and humor alike. She opened
her speech on a light note:
“As you know, I’m from Ko-
rea and actually my name is
Yuh-jung Youn, and most
of European people call me
Yuh-Youn and some of them
call me Yuh-jung. But to-
night, you are all forgiven.”
Her joking forgiveness was
accompanied by a lovely
thank you to “Minari” direc-
tor Lee Isaac Chung and the
other “Minari” actors: “We

became a family,” she said.

In the media center, Youn
didn’t stop providing some
of the best responses of the
night. When answering a
question about the impor-
tance of new stories, Youn
spoke about the need to tell
stories without the need to
delineate
and
categorize

people. “Even (a) rainbow
has seven colors,” she said,
following up this beautiful
sentiment with another: “We
have the same warm heart …
It’s an opportunity for us to
share in the story together.”

After a long and success-
ful career in Korea, it was
gratifying to watch Youn
receive recognition for her
performance, but it was even
more wonderful to watch
her charmingly and humbly
work her way through press
questions. At one point she
joked that she blacked out
for a moment when present-
er Brad Pitt called her name
for the award. “I’m still not
myself,” she told us with a
smile. “So don’t ask me too
many questions, please.”

Anthony Hopkins and Chad-

wick Boseman

There were many unusual
aspects of this year’s Oscars,
from its small crowd to its
limited choice in films to
nominate, but these strange

circumstances didn’t mean
that these Oscars were all
that surprising. The sweep
for “Nomadland” was ex-
pected, with the exception
of Best Actress in a Leading
Role, which really could have
gone to anyone. The one sur-
prise that the Oscars held,
the one upset that people
will be talking about for years
to come, was Sir Anthony
Hopkins’s win in the Actor
in a Leading Role category.
It’s not that his performance
was weak or undeserving by
any means; in fact, many be-
lieved he was most worthy of
the win. It was just surpris-
ing that Chadwick Boseman
(may he rest in peace) didn’t
win the posthumous Acade-
my Award everyone thought
he would.

Whether Chadwick Bose-
man was more deserving of

the Best Actor win than An-
thony Hopkins is up for de-
bate; the events of the night
just made the whole thing
more confusing. When the
Best Picture award was pre-
sented prior to the Best Ac-
tress and Best Actor award,
most people assumed that
the Academy was saving Best
Actor for last to have some
sort of tribute for Boseman.
Instead, a shocked audience
heard Hopkins’s name called
… and the night was over.
Having expected to lose in
his category, Anthony Hop-
kins didn’t attend the show
on Sunday, choosing to stay
at home amidst the pandem-
ic and what he believed to
be a sure loss. The lackluster
ending to Hollywood’s big-
gest night seemed fitting for
the year Hollywood has had.
With so many film releases
put on hold and so much
chaos in the entertainment
industry over the past year
or so, to have the Oscars end
with no Best Actor speech
and a major controversy in
the category actually seemed
right, in a very strange, very
wrong way. Here’s hoping
the 94th Academy Awards
fare better than this year’s.

Some of our other favor-
ite quotes from this year’s

Oscars:

After being asked what his
next project would be after

“Soul”’s success, Peter Doct-
er responded very emphati-
cally: “Sleep. A lot of sleep.”

“I have had a group din-
ner with Kathryn Bigelow,
and definitely fangirled big
time,” Chloé Zhao admitted,
revealing that she did have a
connection to the only other
female Best Director award
winner.

“To begin with, (“Another
Round”) was a celebration of
alcohol,” Thomas Vinterberg
stated, which fits the film’s
title.

Emerald Fennell confessed
that the making of “Promis-
ing Young Woman” stemmed
from her hope “to make
something … that people
would want to go and see
even if it’s about something
difficult and troubling … and
you would talk about it after-
wards.”

For Pippa Erhlich, “My Oc-
topus Teacher” provided a
“unique opportunity to tell a
story about love and respect
and awe between human be-
ings and the natural world.”

“Oh, there’s absolutely going
to be an EGOT in my future
hopefully,” H.E.R. confident-
ly disclosed after winning an
Oscar on Sunday night along
with her Grammy earlier on
in the year.

50 years into her career,
Yuh-jung Youn announced,
“I don’t believe in competi-
tion, especially in our field,
because we are comparing
different movie(s), different
war(s).”

Thrilled with her win in the
Makeup and Hairstyling cat-
egory, Mia Neal summarized
her feelings about the night:
“Listen. I never got married.
I didn’t go to prom. (This is
it) all rolled up in one.”

Tyler Perry’s mother was
with him during his winner’s
speech; later on in the night,
he said, “I could feel (my
mother) in the moment (of
my speech). I could feel her.
Any time I’m up there, I’m
carrying her with me in all
she went through and all we
went through together.”

A final note

Though the film industry
has faced many challenges in
the pandemic, the decision
to invite press to the Oscars
via Zoom actually made the
event more inclusive. The
Academy was able to wel-
come 400+ individual press
members from a giant range
of outlets to join their “Vir-
tual Media Center.” Although
we had sent in our applica-
tions earlier this month, we
had no idea that we would
actually be accepted. This
accreditation offered us the
first chance in The Daily’s
history to watch the Oscars
not just as viewers, but as
press.

The Daily goes to the Academy Awards

Daily Arts Writers

Krislam Chin (The Academy)

KARI ANDERSON, SABRIYA
IMAMI, and ROSS LONDONARTS

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