Academy Awards Speeches Touch on Unity and Politics to Mixed Reactions

The Oscars took place Sunday night under torrential rain so heavy that it threatened to rip through the white tent sheltering the celebrity fabulousness on the red carpet. You'd be excused if you assumed this downpour to be a symbol of the sweeping cultural changes to which the Motion Picture Academy, and Hollywood in general, have failed to fully adapt. In the lead up to the award show, we wondered: Would this be another year focused on pale-as-snow slates of winners, celebrating stories that elevate the privilege of white English-speaking...

There comes a time in an actor’s life when they find themselves seated in the Dolby Theater for the 12th consecutive hour, and they are either working on their face of gracious defeat for when their name is not called out as a winner, or they are optimistically going over a victory speech in their head, ensuring they don’t forget this producer or that agent or that grip on stage. (Or they are running around the bar, asking why the Academy can’t “just do another ‘Shallow,’” which is probably the...