Oscar Winner Mix-Up Stuns Hollywood
February 28, 2017
An Oscar, the pinnacle of film achievement. On one night, all involved in the film industry gather in hopes of holding a golden man in their hands. The cast and crew of La La Land was able to experience this moment … for a few seconds. The biggest award of the night, Best Picture, mistakenly went to La La Land due to an envelope mix-up. The award was then graciously handed off to Moonlight. I’m sure Steve Harvey watched in horror as the moment triggered war flashbacks to his Miss Universe error and the world was reminded of it. Though the biggest moment of the night was met with a major mistake, the night had many highlights.
Justin Timberlake opened the show with his nominated song, “Can’t Stop the Feeling”, Candy Fell from the ceiling as celebs reacted in awe, and Lin Manuel Miranda, introduced by Dwayne Johnson, delivered a rapped prologue to Auli’i Cravalho’s performance of “How Far I’ll Go.” The performance had blue scarves and flags mimicking the tides of the ocean. At one point a prop hit Cravalho’s head put she didn’t bat an eye. Similar to other shows of award season, the night had many political messages. One message in particular was told by Mexican actor, Gael Garcia Bernal. He stated, “As a Mexican, as a Latin-American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, I’m against any form of wall that separates us.”
Overall, the night went off without many hitches and was a major step up from last year’s lack of diversity. Moonlight rightfully won Best Picture but was robbed of the winning moment, taking the spotlight from their achievement.
Here is the full list of winners.
Best Picture: “Moonlight”
Actor: Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Actress: Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, “Fences”
Animated Feature: “Zootopia”
Cinematography: “La La Land”
Costume Design: “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
Direction: Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
Documentary Feature: “O.J.: Made in America”
Documentary Short: “The White Helmets”
Film Editing: “Hacksaw Ridge”
Foreign Language Film: “The Salesman”
Makeup and Hairstyling: “Suicide Squad”
Score: “La La Land”
Song: “City of Stars” from “La La Land”
Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Production Design: “La La Land”
Animated Short: “Piper”
Live Action Short: “Sing”
Sound Editing: “Arrival”
Sound Mixing: “Hacksaw Ridge”
Visual Effects: “The Jungle Book”
Adapted Screenplay: “Moonlight”
Original Screenplay: “Manchester by the Sea”