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Monae opened the program with a homage to some motion pictures that weren’t nominated.
” Remember when a film was a fella in a hat escaping from a fella without any hair?”
When Hank Hooper, CEO of media corporation Kabletown, made that observation in Tina Fey’s comedy 30 Rock, it was a parody of the outmoded opinions held by the guys who run Hollywood.
Yet there was an apparent air of Hank Hooper-ism hanging over this year’s Oscars, where a war movie (1917) and a love letter to Spaghetti westerns (When Upon a Time in Hollywood) were amongst the front-runners.
No ladies were chosen for finest director, and only one individual of colour was chosen in any of the acting categories (British star Cynthia Erivo).
And as you watched this year’s ceremony, there was an ever-so-slightly uncomfortable sensation that the Academy was attempting to offset that pre-event debate.
To be reasonable, all of it began magnificently. Janelle Monae began the night with an efficiency of It’s a Stunning Day in the Community, from the Tom Hanks film of the very same name, which became an old-time musical special.
As Monae interspersed her lyrics with sobs of “be loud, be lit”, completely choreographed dancers spun around her dressed in outfits from Little Females, Jojo Rabbit and Joker.
However there were likewise characters from United States, Queen and Slim and Dolemite Is My Name – all motion pictures with a strong African-American voice that missed out on nominations.
” Those voices long denied,” observed Monae, before rhyming the title of Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite with “the Oscars, it’s so white”.
Later she revealed “Tonight we celebrate the ladies who directed remarkable films,” a statement that was patently false.
She signed off by telling the audience: “We commemorate the ladies. I’m so proud to stand here as a black, queer lady.”
Monae got a rousing standing ovation – and her efficiency was definitely far better than Queen opening last year’s program.
But it was weird to see the Oscars raising the curtain with a song-and-dance number committed to self-flagellation.
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