This year’s 97th annual Academy Awards have come at a time of unprecedented political instability and an environmental crisis, with thousands of homes being destroyed in the recent Los Angeles fires. Still, the buzz around the awards ceremony remained, though some have questioned the legitimacy of the nomination process.
In his opening monologue, host Conan O’Brien addressed the importance of the Oscars even in light of recent unrest throughout the nation and worldwide.
“In moments such as this, any award show can seem self-indulgent and superfluous…but the Oscars also shines a light on an incredible community of people you will never see. For almost a century we have paused every Spring to elevate and celebrate an art form that has the power, at its very best, to unite us. So yes, even in the face of terrible wildfires and divisive politics, the work – which is what this is about – continues,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien and the Oscars celebrated a whole host behind-the-scenes workers whose contributions are essential to the creation of beloved movies. He acknowledged that these people are not wealthy or famous, but said that the Oscars is a show for them too. Thus, it must go on.
Career Center staff member and pop culture enthusiast Christina Spearman works the red carpet for the Academy Awards, and she also believes that it is important for the show to go on. She described the award show industry as an ‘ecosystem’ of workers, some of whom depend on the Oscars to be a main source of their income.
“There’s so many types of jobs that people are doing…This whole week, this is a week where they would make a lot of their money. And those are the folks that are already suffering in so many ways from the fires. The people…that you don’t often think about when you think about this kind of flashy awards process, they really need this income,” Spearman said.
Spearman works the Red-Carpet Fan Experience for the Oscars, which gives fans the opportunity to spend the afternoon on the red carpet before the ceremony. She described that fans and her crew are set up in ‘pods’ alongside the carpet. After working for the Fan Experience for 11 years, Spearman has had close encounters with many celebrities, including Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson, Angela Bassett, Steven Spielberg, and Margot Robbie.
Spearman recalled a touching moment with Robbie on the Oscars red-carpet during last year’s “Barbie” era.
“When Margot Robbie was coming, we saw her and we decided our whole pod would yell ‘Hi Barbie!’ when she came by…and she was walking fast but she said ‘Hi Barbie!’ back to us, and of course I started crying,” Spearman said.
She also had a notable moment with “The Office” star BJ Novak, where she had the chance to tell him about how much she and her son enjoyed reading his book, “The Book with No Pictures.” She has said that the touching moments she gets to have with the actors make her job surreal and exciting every year, even after over a decade of work. She also enjoys seeing the behind the scenes work of creating the red carpet.
While the Oscars are a highly-regarded, monumental event for the film industry, some movie and theatre fans in the Loyola community have expressed skepticism about the ceremony’s nomination process.
“I don’t think they watch the movies. I think a lot of the people who decide who wins are really out of touch. As we’ve seen with some of the nominations, there’s a ton of them that people are just like, ‘What is this film? Why is this here?” Sean Triplett ‘27 said of the Academy Award voters.
Triplett is a member of the Evergreen Players. He has expressed frustrations with the politics surrounding recent award shows. He shared that he did not plan on tuning in for the Oscars.
“I’m not really interested in the opinion of a bunch of film critics who are looking for very specific things, and probably aren’t even watching all of the movies,” Triplett said.
Triplett’s reservations about the show could have some truth to them, as there have been questions within the industry about whether or not Academy voters actually watch all the nominated movies.
Still, the show can be a good way for some fans to feel connected to their favorite celebrities and films. Lexi Frenda ‘27, another member of Evergreen Players, reported that she did intend to tune in for the Oscars despite agreeing that the voters can at times be out of touch.
“I’m just interested, I just like to see who wins. There are a couple movies that I like that are up for awards. I want Wicked to take a few. That was such a well put together movie,” Frenda said.
Senior Evergreen Players member Mary Kate O’Callaghan also had mixed opinions about the Oscars. They were glad that the show was still happening despite recent political and environmental events, believing that it is important to continue celebrating art even when times are tough. Still, they too doubt the validity of the selection process for the nominees and winners. After years of watching the Oscars with their friends, O’Callaghan does not believe that the choices are based on an actor’s individual performance alone.
“Hollywood is a game. It’s not always based on talent, it’s based on who you know and what you’ve done and your connections…There’s all kinds of things going on, and it’s not always just based on the performance given. It makes award shows tough because you see something win and it’s like alright, there’s no way,” O’Callaghan said.
The Oscars were hosted by Conan O’Brien and streamed on ABC Network. Here’s a full list of the winners:
Best Picture – “Anora”
Best Actress – Mickey Madison, “Anora”
Best Supporting Actress – Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”
Best Actor – Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
Best Supporting Actor – Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”
Best Director – Sean Baker, “Anora”
Best Cinematography – “The Brutalist”
Best Animated Feature Film – “Flow”
Best Animated Short Film – “In the Shadow of the Cypress”
Best Documentary Feature Film – “No Other Land”
Best Documentary Short Film – “The Only Girl in the Orchestra”
Best Costume Design – Paul Tazewell, “Wicked”
Best Original Screenplay – Sean Baker, “Anora”
Best Adapted Screenplay – Peter Straughan, “Conclave”
Best Makeup – “The Substance”
Best Film Editing – Sean Baker, “Anora”
Best Production Design – Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales, “Wicked”
Best Live Action Short Film – “I Am Not A Robot”
Best International Feature Film – “I’m Still Here” (Brazil)
Best Sound – “Dune: Part Two”
Best Original Score – David Blumberg, “The Butalist”
Watch Conan O’Brien’s opening monologue here!
