Forget what movie will take home best picture, which actors are frontrunners or who’ll be wearing which designer’s gown. The biggest question looming over the 2017 Oscars ceremony is this: who’s going to make the most passionate political speech?
Competition is sure to be fierce during the Feb. 26 Oscar broadcast, in a year where the usual awards-show pontificating has already reached epic levels. Meryl Streep rocked the 2017 Golden Globes by slamming Donald Trump – by inference, if not by name — and defending Hollywood’s “outsiders and foreigners.”
“Stranger Things” star David Harbour got the Screen Actors Guild Awards crowd cheering when he called on actors to “go deeper and through our art battle against fear, self-centeredness, and exclusivity of our predominantly narcissistic culture.”
And the 2017 Grammy Awards audience applauded when A Tribe Called Quest tore through politically charged songs, and guest Busta Rhymes dropped a verbal bomb, sarcastically commenting, “I want to thank President Agent Orange for your unsuccessful attempt at the Muslim ban.”
Using the platform of widely viewed awards shows as a megaphone for political and social activism dates back at least to the 1973 Oscar ceremony. That year, Marlon Brando sent Sacheen Littlefeather to explain that Brando declined to accept his award for “The Godfather,” because of the movie industry’s record of poor treatment of Native Americans.
Since then, celebrities have taken advantage of their moment in the awards show spotlight to attack leaders, support causes and bring awareness to a variety of issues.
But this season is more charged than ever, because of the strong feelings Trump inspires, and the president’s thin skin, and habit of responding to perceived slights almost instantly. After Streep’s Golden Globes speech, for example, Trump turned to Twitter to call Streep “one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood,” as well as a “Hillary flunky.”
Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn’t know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She is a…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017
Hillary flunky who lost big. For the 100th time, I never “mocked” a disabled reporter (would never do that) but simply showed him…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017
“groveling” when he totally changed a 16 year old story that he had written in order to make me look bad. Just more very dishonest media!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017
For all the sound and fury that’s already erupted, previous awards events were just the opening acts for the Oscars ceremony, which represents Hollywood’s biggest prize and delivers millions of viewers every year.
On Feb. 26, the stage is set for a mighty clash of the “liberal movie people,” as Trump described them, and a president with a notoriously itchy Twitter trigger finger.
The shock felt by the traditionally liberal members of the entertainment community over Trump defeating Hillary Clinton adds a fresh new layer to what has already become a heavily politicized Oscar process.
After two years in a row of Oscar voters shortchanging movies about African Americans and performers of color when it came to nominations, #OscarsSoWhite protests and boycotts spurred the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to initiate changes last year designed to diversify its membership.
And this year’s 89th Academy Awards does indeed honor a more diverse set of movies and performers, with nods for “Fences,” and its stars, Denzel Washington and Viola Davis; “Hidden Figures,” and supporting actress nominee Octavia Spencer; “Moonlight,” its director, Barry Jenkins, and supporting nominees Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris; Ruth Negga in “Loving”; and more.
But there’s another political wrinkle to the 2017 Oscars. The movie with the most nominations — 14, tying it for the record with “Titanic” and “All About Eve” — is “La La Land,” a musical about an aspiring actress and jazz musician trying to make it big in Hollywood.
For all its charms, “La La Land” could hardly offer a more stark contrast to the grit and social consciousness of movies like “Fences” or “Moonlight.”
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are capable, but how relevant is an escapist musical about good-looking people chasing showbiz dreams to an everyday person whose dream is paying the rent every month?
Sides are already drawn between those who admire how “La La Land” pays homage to classic musicals, and those who think this isn’t the right time to reward a movie whose very title is a sardonic nickname for Los Angeles head-in-the-clouds narcissism.
No matter which movie wins, we’re definitely in for an #OscarsSoPolitical ceremony. It’s a natural progression after a presidential campaign that saw politics and pop culture get suffocatingly entangled, with debates becoming TV ratings blockbusters, and a former reality-TV show star winning the highest office in the land.
This year’s Oscar host, Jimmy Kimmel, isn’t as edgy a choice as Chris Rock was last year. But even Kimmel’s jokes have gotten more pointed on his late-night show lately. How could they not, when everywhere from the football field to the glitziest red carpet is now marinated in politics?
Hosting the Oscars is never easy, as the show walks a fine line between genuine emotion and the mind-numbing spectacle of famous people wallowing in self-congratulation.
Will this Oscars show do anything to rattle the ideological cages this divided country is locked into? Or will it simply convince conservatives that “coastal elites” are again lecturing them, while reassuring those who oppose Trump and his agenda that “the resistance” is real?
Kimmel will have his work cut for him as he tries to find humor in an evening that’s less likely to change anyone’s mind than it is to shore up the beliefs people already have.
The Oscars begin with red-carpet arrivals coverage at 4 p.m. The ceremony starts at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26 on ABC/2.
— Kristi Turnquist
kturnquist@oregonian.com
503-221-8227
@Kristiturnquist
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