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

