2023 Awards Season: The Oscars

Luna Coronel

The Oscars, also known as the Academy Awards, is an annual awards ceremony that honors outstanding achievements in the film industry. Famous actors and actresses join together to celebrate the beauty of film and picture. For those who are not famous celebrities, we can watch the Oscars in the comfort of our homes. The Oscars is one of the most anticipated events in the entertainment industry. It is an annual ceremony that recognizes excellence in cinematic achievements. The 2023 Oscars was no exception.

The most notable wins this year were for the movie Everything Everywhere All At Once. This record breaking movie went on to win seven awards, which is almost every category. They won in best picture, director, original screenplay, lead actress, supporting actress, supporting actor and editing.  Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian woman to win the Oscar for lead actress. The film’s actors Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan, and Michelle Yeoh also won Oscars, as well as the directors, The Daniels. In addition, Pinocchio won for the best animated film, Navaly won best documentary, An Irish Goodbye won best live action short, All Quiet on the Western Front won best cinematography, as well as best international feature film, best production design, and best original score. Best visual effects were given to Avatar, The Way of Water, and Women Talking won best adapted screenplay. 

Everything Everywhere All At Once was a big win for the movie studio A24 and a huge step forward for Asian representation in Hollywood. However, viewers were displeased with some award winners. For example, the movie Elvis took home zero Oscars, as did Banshees Inisherin. Every single acting winner was from a movie produced by A24. When Jaime Lee Curtis won the Oscar for best supporting actress, it was visible that Angela Bassett was not happy. Viewers expressed their discontentment by saying that Basset was “snubbed” from her award. 

The Oscars also brought light to some serious topics. Jameela Alia Jamil, a British actress and activist who reached out to her social media platform,“A lot of people this year took weight loss injections. I’m not being judgmental. I just don’t want you to be triggered, or to make any sudden decisions, because of the images of impossible standards that come out today. It’s a temporary extreme. None of this lasts.”

More controversy arose when Jimmy Kimmel made a very long joke about the slap between Will Smith and Chris Rock last year. Kimmel then went on to blatantly mock Malala Yousafza. Also, two women of color, who won awards, had their speeches cut off due to the dances onstage. Even more controversy sparked when for the second year in a row, the President of Ukraine requested to be invited to the Oscars, and was rejected. This brings light to society and how these celebrities seem to be thriving, while America is in a crisis. High inflation and interest rates don’t seem to bother these Hollywood stars. 

In all, the Oscars’ ratings have been in unbelievable decline in the past couple of years, falling by more than half from 43 million viewers in 2014 to 18.7 million in 2023. The 2023 Academy Awards had the 3rd lowest viewers for the Oscars in history.