This year’s Oscars were already pretty chaotic. Then Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face. After a quirky, pandemic-shaped ceremony last year, the producers behind the 94th Academy Awards, which aired on Sunday, March 27, may have hoped for a return to normalcy this year. But instead, the ceremony was bizarre and fractured at every turn, even before Smith and Rock’s standoff. 

One attempt to return to normalcy was the presence of Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall, all of whom were the first Oscars hosts since 2018. Though somewhat hit-or-miss, the comedy added a welcome dose of levity to the night, save for a truly uncomfortable gag whose premise involved Hall essentially sexually harassing several of the actors present, going so far as to grope Jason Momoa and Josh Brolin. Unfortunately, it was this sense of unease, rather than a sense of humor, that pervaded the night for viewers.

Peppered between awards were what can only be described as desperate ploys for pop culture relevance. Skateboarder Tony Hawk, surfer Kelly Slater, and snowboarder Shaun White introduced a tribute to the James Bond franchise for its 60th anniversary. What do extreme sports athletes have to do with Bond, let alone cinema? Why did this Bond tribute air an hour before Billie Eilish’s performance of “No Time To Die,” her Oscar-winning theme for the Bond film of the same name? The Academy doesn’t seem to know. It’s too busy throwing everything at the wall.

In another play at mass appeal, the Oscars featured two fan-voted categories, “Oscars Cheer Moment” and “Oscars Fan Favorite,” which were chosen through Twitter. Instead of representing popular tastes, though, these categories seemed to only reflect which films have fanbases with the biggest online presences. Two Zack Snyder films released straight to streaming (“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” and “Army of the Dead”) topped both categories, and other top entries included the critically panned “Cinderella,” starring Camila Cabello, and “Minamata,” a photojournalism drama starring Johnny Depp. 

Actor Troy Kotsur won Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “CODA,” becoming the first deaf man to win an Acting Oscar for his portrayal of a deaf fisherman who learns to embrace his hearing daughter’s love of singing. Kotsur, with an ASL interpreter, gave a powerful speech, concluding with a strong statement.

“This is dedicated to the deaf community, the CODA (children of deaf adults) community, and the disabled community,” Kotsur said in his speech, delivered in ASL. “This is our moment.” 

Immediately afterwards, a video popped up: it was Chris Evans congratulating Kotsur on his win before segueing into a plug for the upcoming Disney film “Lightyear.” If you weren’t aware that Disney owned ABC (the network broadcasting the Oscars) at the beginning of the night, you certainly were by the end.

Other odd moments came from unexpected appearances by pop stars. BTS made a 30-second appearance over video seemingly just to talk about the fact that they like movies. A performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” the hit song from Best Animated Feature winner “Encanto,” featured a tacked-on rap verse from Megan Thee Stallion extolling the excitement of the Oscars. 

When Chris Rock came out to present the award for Best Documentary, neither he nor the audience had any idea what was in store. Rock riffed on the goings-on of the ceremony, first commenting on married couple Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz both being nominated for Oscars that night. His focus then turned to another famous couple sitting in the front of the crowd: Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. 

“Jada, I love you. ‘G.I. Jane’ two, can’t wait to see it,” Rock quipped, referencing Pinkett Smith’s buzzed hair. 

The crowd laughed, and Rock moved to continue his presentation. Before he could, though, Smith strode up to the stage and slapped Rock in the face. When the audio cut out from the broadcast, viewers could only assume this slap was accompanied by profanity.

“Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth,” it turns out, was the censored remark. 

Rock was shaken but moved on, and the room in the Dolby Theater seemed tense. Shortly afterwards, following an awkwardly upbeat “In Memoriam” segment fronted by a dancing gospel choir, Smith was the center of attention again when he won Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams, father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams, in “King Richard.”

“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,” Smith began his remarks.

Smith’s tense, emotional speech, which was interrupted by tears, made it clear that he saw himself as protecting his family (Pinkett Smith has alopecia, which likely makes comments on her hair a sore subject). Smith made numerous references to God, seemingly framing his actions as part of a divinely inspired mission. He apologized to the Academy (and notably not to Rock), but primarily seemed to present a troubling justification for his outburst.

“Love will make you do crazy things,” Smith said. 

The ceremony did carry on after that. “CODA” ended the night by becoming the first film released on streaming (Apple TV+) to win Best Picture. But the 94th Academy Awards were ultimately a night where a celebration of cinematic artistry came off as the lowest priority. Indeed, eight categories, including ones as integral to film as Editing and Score, were presented prior to the live awards and later unceremoniously stitched into the broadcast with brief acceptance speeches. Ironically, though this move was an attempt to shorten the ceremony, it ended up being as long as ever. 

From awkward cameos to corporate tie-ins to an onstage altercation, this year’s Oscars seemed to be about everything but the films being honored. But even before Smith stormed the stage, gimmicks the producers may have hoped would breathe new life into the Oscars brought it to a new low instead.

 

Oscar Kim Bauman can be reached at obauman@wesleyan.edu.