The Oscars have always been a flurry of outfits, celebrities, drama and of course, the awards. The 97th Oscars was no different. From the red carpet to Adam Sandler storming out in the middle of the ceremony in his signature basketball shorts, the Oscars seemed to encapsulate the media and the audiences.
While the Oscars was a time for big winners, a lot of other films seemed to get snubbed.
Two big musicals of the year, “Emilia Pérez” and “Wicked” were up for over ten nominations. One of the categories was Best Supporting Actress, where many fans wanted Ariana Grande to win for her role as Glinda in “Wicked.” However, Zoe Saldaña, who played Rita Mora Castro in “Emilia Pérez,” was the one who ultimately took the award.
While this actress has been in many well-known roles and deserved this award, it should not have been for her role in “Emilia Pérez.” The movie itself has mass controversy, especially in Mexico, where many people of Latine origin have seen this film as disrespectful and giving into stereotypes that Hollywood has for the community. Some problems with the film that has been discussed are the accents, the Spanish (which many who speak Spanish have said that it was wrong or hard to understand) and the music itself.
The music in the film has been accused of using heavy autotune and even alleged artificial intelligence to write the music. While the movie does try to bring attention to the Latine community and bring awareness regarding those with gender-affirming surgery, it does so in a poorly executed way that comes off more offensive than the intent was.
“Wicked,” however, deserved to win more than it did. The film won Best Costume Design and Best Production Design, two very fitting awards for the movie. Other categories it was nominated for, like Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects and Best Actress, should have also won.
“Wicked” was nominated for ten awards and should have won more than two. The film took over five years to make and was one of the most beautiful and compelling films from Hollywood in a long time. When it was released, it broke the box office and was in theaters until February.
Grande and Cynthia Erivo delivered breathtaking and beautiful performances. The music in the movie was one of the best live adaptations of a Broadway play. Erivo even sang live while doing stunts in the air. The movie used very little autotune and editing to their voices, which was clearly showcased throughout the film. The movie deserved to win far more than what it actually did. This was especially evident when Grande and Erivo opened the Oscars with the song “Defying Gravity” from the film.
Still, the Oscars also highlighted many other films that deserved to win. In the Best Animated Features category, “Flow,” a film made in Latvia by an independent company, won over Disney and Pixar films, breaking history.
While the Oscars had snubs, they also brought some hope that smaller films can win over bigger corporations. Still, the Oscars should re-evaluate how they examine films and the criteria to win- rather than just focusing on the films that will get the most media attention when they do win. Centering controversial films as winners only further alienates the trust audiences have with the Academy for choosing the winners.
Andrea Roberts can be reached at arg-opinion@uidaho.edu.