Hollywood Takes Hit After Hit, Finds Small Saving Graces

Well, that was interesting. What should have been the most “normal” Oscars ceremony in years turned out to be just as chaotic and misguided as ever, and not just for one hit (was it a slap? Or a punch? Neither, or both?) that was cast onto screens all around the world.

It’s all about the slap-punch that Will Smith landed on Chris Rock after an ill-advised and under-researched joke - and folks are quickly getting tired of the conversation. I surmise this is partly because of the sheer unacceptability of the action and not the joke itself. This is a situation of “the medium is the message” all the way around. The conversation has also reached its second-act break due to the sheer vanity of the entire situation when tensions are running high worldwide, and people are suffering in Ukraine. There are more critical things than Will Smith laying hands-on Chris Rock.

And yet, the Oscars have felt like a constant through many terrible things, including the pandemic, no matter how weird it got. That’s not to say that the Oscars ceremony has always been a “safe space,” but if you can make predictions and play a bingo card of events for it, then one would expect it to be free of fears such as physical violence. That physical violence is a violation, which is why I think people were shocked and why the event is still making headlines a week later.

The circumstances immediately following are just as mindboggling. After the incident occurred, Will Smith was apparently asked to leave the ceremony. He refused. After all, his category was coming up. It has also been reported that the decision rested with Chris Rock, who was asked if he wanted Smith to leave the ceremony. So, who really knows? A week later, the details are becoming lost in near-constant chatter.

After remaining at the Dolby Theatre, Smith wins the dang thing and gives an emotional speech, not out of gratitude, per se, but out of embarrassment and pride. Instead of having a platform to celebrate an impressive body of work and send a meaningful message, Smith’s speech served as an inflated spotlight where an aggressor was able to defend his actions… following a standing ovation.

After the ceremony, he partied. That would have been a natural, unquestionable, joyful way to celebrate an Oscars win in any other situation. But not for Smith at the 2022 ceremony. It seems bad taste, but I can’t shake the thought I had upon seeing the aggression, speech, and partying unfold; this looks like a person in need of help.

The next day saw an Instagram apology to the Academy and Chris Rock. Apparently, no private apology has been made. Chris Rock was in Boston days later to perform a set already scheduled before the Academy Awards. The comments leaked from inside Rock’s show did not address if any private apology had been made. Another decision in bad taste. Public apologies are good for P.R. Public apologies are unsuitable for the soul.

Then, the Academy released a statement condemning the aggression Smith displayed and thanking Chris Rock for his grace and calm under pressure. After that, Will Smith resigned from the Academy, yielding the privilege and esteem he’d worked an entire career to achieve. As of writing, Smith’s resignation has not answered the question as to whether his Oscar win will stand. Perhaps next week, there will be more to know about that side of the situation, which is sad, no matter how you look at it. For Will Smith, this entire debacle is a textbook definition of being one’s worst enemy.

The hardest pill to swallow of the “Slapgate” incident is the truly heartwarming and inspirational moments of this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. These are the saving graces of an otherwise shocking ceremony and rhetoric-dominating fallout. Ariana DeBose was the first openly queer Afro-Latina to snag the Best Support Actress Oscar for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s Westside Story (2021). Rita Moreno took home the same award in 1962, for the same role, as the first person of color to win the prize. Moreno was in the audience at this year’s ceremony, watching the parallel of her own life, 60 years later, unfold before her eyes.

Troy Kotsur took home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in CODA (2021), becoming the first deaf man to do so. What an amazing accomplishment, especially considering CODA also took home the award for Best Picture. Lady Gaga and Liza Minelli warmed hearts and softened tension inside the Dolby Theatre. The pair showed love and support as Minnelli struggled with the overwhelming emotions and circumstances of presenting an award. As Minnelli sat in her wheelchair, flustered with her own cue cards and speech, Lady Gaga graciously gave Minnelli the love and support she deserved while supporting the legend in her struggles. It is truly an inspiring moment of humility, grace, and self-agency.

As for what’s next… right now, it’s not looking great. Despite a current 69% audience rating from Rotten Tomatoes, Morbius, the latest Marvel cinematic release led by Jared Leto, sets at an abysmal 17% critic rating. There’s no reason to think that the comic movie is in any real danger. What this latest flop says, however, is that Marvel’s audiences are now more intelligent than they were before, thanks to over a decade of meticulous fan research and viewership.

Leto struck out on Suicide Squad because of his castmates’ public apprehension about his on-set behavior related to Leto’s method acting preferences. Classically trained actors know there’s a time and place for the extreme measures Leto subjects himself to. Other actors encourage it as a personal choice. Anne Hathaway, who stars opposite Leto in the new limited series WeTanked (2022), recently approached Leto’s method acting as something interesting, perhaps akin to a masterclass, while also revealing she tried a raw-vegan diet as the character she plays follows. Again, there’s a time and place.

Lady Gaga herself has done a lot of prefacing and tip-toeing around her use of method acting for House of Gucci (2021). She had to tip-toe because it was extreme. However, she’s proud of it, and it is much more appropriate for the film she was making. Perhaps method acting is not warranted and disturbing to audiences when one plays a mentally tortured, perpetually grinning villain and a soft-spoken doctor-turned-vampire-bat.

The issue still being navigated by studios is the balance between theatrical and streaming releases. How to decide? How to space them out? Is there still a profit to be made? Can we ask audiences to buy another subscription? Another blow to take and keep rolling with the punches. Perhaps market data, surveying, and consumer analysis will develop a game plan for studios to navigate the need to satisfy both the box office and at-home streaming audiences.

However, balancing theatrical and streaming releases will become manageable and profitable only when studios reframe their measures of success away from opening weekends and box office statistics. These days, critical reviews play a more significant part in how audiences decide if the trouble, and risk, of going out to a public theatre is worth it.

Upcoming blockbusters that may be the saving grace for audiences and theatres include Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (April 6th) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 4th). The latter is perhaps to more anticipated of the two, tying directly into the more recent successes of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and WandaVision (2020). It would not be so strange for M.o.M. to divert some attention away from Morbius. If there was a post-credits scene already planned for the end of M.o.M. which would tie the two releases together, studio head Kevin Feige may be planning a strategy meeting. Still, as more “blockbusters” either sink or swim there, the studio and audience negotiations between theatrical and blockbuster releases will fall into an organic, steady rhythm. The shift has been inevitable, and the pandemic only accelerated the process.