Winning an Academy Award is considered the pinnacle of success for a filmmaker or actor’s career. Realistically, however, the Oscars are a contest of who deserves an award, whose “moment” it is, not necessarily a contest of talent. Winning an Oscar is like receiving a lifetime achievement award; that doesn’t necessarily relate to why you won it. Such examples include Oppenheimer sweeping the awards in 2024, notably for Best Directing and Best Picture. The film did not feel as though it was Christopher Nolan’s best (other honourable nominees include Inception and Dunkirk). Still, it was undoubtedly Nolan’s “moment”.
An Ironic Award
This outdated system, however, decided to hide away when it came to the Best Actress award. Mikey Madison’s performance in Anora is outrageous. She breaks down all conventions of the “it girl” we have seen before and takes no prisoners in the modern-day male saviour story, but to see Demi Moore not take the award home for The Substance for her role as Elisabeth Sparkle broke a little piece of my heart. By no means does Madison not deserve the award. The film’s brilliance was praised consistently throughout the ceremony, taking Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Directing and Best Original Screenplay (the well-rounded Sean Baker barely sat in his seat). But given the plot of The Substance, where Elisabeth’s younger doppelganger Sue (Margaret Qualley) slowly steals Elisabeth’s star-studded career, youth, and eventually her life, the fact the award did go to a younger woman instead of Moore, (whose only award she has been recognised for is a Golden Globe for The Substance) stank of irony.
Moreover, The Substance marks the first body horror film nominated for an Oscar since David Cronenberg’s The Fly in 1986. It is an unconventional genre creeping its way into mainstream media, much to the Academy’s dismay, so it is no surprise that the film didn’t receive the recognition it deserves.
The Brody Controversy
Perhaps my expectations of the Academy Awards were too high. I especially realised this when Adrien Brody won his second Oscar for The Brutalist as opposed to Sebastian Stan’s meticulous performance as a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice or the diligent Timothée Chalamet as a lefty Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Essentially, it would have been nice to see the award go to more unrecognised actors whose performances speak volumes in present-day chauvinist America. Granted, The Brutalist is about a young architect who survives the Holocaust and moves to America to start anew, and Brody exclaimed in his acceptance speech how he is an actor “to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression”. It would have been appropriate, then, to speak out about contemporary and ongoing mass genocides. Instead, the actor ended his speech banally, praying for a “healthier and happier and more inclusive world”.
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I wasn’t entirely disappointed by the winners. No Other Land took home Best Documentary Feature following the displacement of Palestinians by Israeli forces between 2019 and 2023. Latvia took home its first Oscar for Flow in the Best Animated Feature category, Dune: Part Two despite not winning Best Cinematography, rightfully won Best Visual Effects and Best Sound, and Paul Tazewell won the award for Best Costume Design for Wicked, becoming the first Black man to ever win the award. Nonetheless, the whole ordeal of the Academy Awards feels outdated and irrelevant for everyone except the winners, and year by year, they don’t reflect the general public’s opinion. The Academy seems to continue to vote for what is deemed a “safe” option, someone who won’t spark controversy and whose art is rather vapid. It is great that such awards exist, where winners are recognised by their peers for their talent. Still, it is essential to remember that at the end of the day, why wouldn’t peers vote for peers in an industry that sets people up for failure.