Eileen Flynn, Story Editor
@eileen_courant
With the recent #Metoo and Time’s Up movements, sexual misconduct allegations against countless celebrities and controversy over gun control policies, it’s no wonder that this year’s Oscars were politically charged. Let’s take a look at a few of the political statements at the Academy Awards show.
Red Carpet
Recent allegations against E!’s Red Carpet host Ryan Seacrest left him with a 43% decrease in ratings from 2017, along with only interviewing 21 celebrities over the course of the occasion.
Fashion Statements
Many stars sported blue ACLU ribbons along with their bold ensembles in order to take a stand against the travel ban from many predominantly Muslim countries.
Celebrities such as Presenter Lin-Manuel Miranda wore orange American Flag pins in support of Everytown’s #wearorange pins and ribbons bringing attention to gun violence.
Tonight, actors and allies will #WearOrange pins and ribbons on the #Oscars red carpet to bring awareness to gun violence prevention in the wake of the Parkland school shooting. https://t.co/7BxtM6bTKD
— Everytown (@Everytown) March 4, 2018
Time’s Up pins were also sported by celebrities including Guillermo Del Toro, who directed Oscar Best Motion Picture winner The Shape of Water. Actresses such as Sandra Bullock and Janelle Monae also wore the pins to show their support.
Jimmy Kimmel’s Monologue
Jimmy Kimmel opened the Oscars Ceremony this year and his monologue revolved entirely around political commentary.
Kimmel commented on sexual harassment in Hollywood, praising the Oscar statue for “keeping his hand where we can see them” and stating that “we need more men like that in Hollywood.”
He followed by commending new hit action movie Black Panther along with Wonder Woman for their success and breaking stereotypes that film featuring minorities could not be successful.
Kimmel continued to address the equal pay issue, specifically referencing the recent actions Mark Wahlberg took following the pay-gap issue between him and Michelle Williams.
In his monologue, Kimmel also made a few jabs at President Trump along with Vice President Mike Pence, joking that “We don’t make movies like Call Me By Your Name for money. We make them to upset Mike Pence,” referencing the homophobic allegations against the Vice President.
Dreamers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIOfmei_AzI
Kumail Nanjiani and Lupita Nyong’o decided to address the issue of immigration in their speech, voicing their support for Dreamers stating, “To all the Dreamers out there, we stand with you.”
Performance of “Stand Up For Something”
Finally, Common and Andra Day welcomed many activists on stage while they performed “Stand up for Something” from “Marshall”, ending in a shout out to the NRA saying that “They ain’t God’s way.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqvCrrv6_iY
This resulted in the Twitter response from the NRA:
.@common @TheAcademy: This is what the #NRA and its members stand for. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/elDV3zteF9
— NRATV (@NRATV) March 5, 2018
SNL
And as always, SNL had a skit about the Oscars named the “Grabbies” in reference to the numerous sexual misconduct allegations about celebrities in Hollywood, addressing the current climate of sexual harassment along with a jab at Massage Envy for allegations against them.
