Oscar’s Sunlight Shines On “Moonlight”

The real shame here is that the buzz is about the flub – and not the historic win.

The 89th Academy Awards will be remembered for all of the wrong reasons. In a year where LGBTQ artists in front and behind the camera were woefully underrepresented, “Moonlight” entered the history books. Not only was it the first gay-themed drama to win Best Picture, it was also the first time the gold went to an Islamic actor as Mahershala Ali won for Best Supporting Actor.

Directed by Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight” tells the story of a gay black man from childhood to adulthood, and Ali plays the boy’s role model in the first third of the film.

What everyone is talking about this morning, however, is the “Steve Harvey realness” that ended the evening. Turns out, Warren Beatty was handed the wrong card by the Oscar’s accounting group. He handed the card off to Faye Dunaway who read “La La Land” had won best pictures.

“Moonlight” also won for Best Adapted Screenplay last night. A few days earlier, “Moonlight” took home six awards, including Best Feature” at the Independent Spirit Awards.”

 
DJT was skewered throughout the evening.

“As a Mexican, as a Latin American, as a migrant worker,” said actor Gael Garcia Bernal, “as a human being, I am against any form of wall that wants to separate us.”

Another jolt of a moment was the one that didn’t happen for Asghar Farhadi, who won Best Foreign Language Film for The Salesman. “My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and the other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S.,” read Anousheh Ansari, who accepted the award on his behalf.”

And finally, if there’s one thing to remember from last night’s telecast, it should be this from Best Adapted Screenplay winners Barry Jenkins (screenplay) and Tarell Alvin McCraney:

“All you people out there who feel like there’s no mirror for you, that your life is not reflected—the Academy has your back, the ACLU has your back, we have your back, and for the next four years, we will not leave you alone,” said Barry Jenkins. “We will not forget you.”

“This goes out to all those black and brown boys and girls and non-gender conforming who don’t see themselves,” Tarell Alvin McCraney added. “This is for you.”

But wait, there’s more. As Variety adds, “Janet Patterson, an Australian costume designer and four-time Oscar nominee (“The Piano,” “Portrait of a Lady,” “Oscar and Lucinda” and “Bright Star”) passed away in October 2015. Her name and occupation were correct in the montage, but the photo used was of Jan Chapman, a still-living Australian film producer.
“I was devastated by the use of my image in place of my great friend and long-time collaborator Janet Patterson. I had urged her agency to check any photograph which might be used and understand that they were told that the Academy had it covered,” Jan Chapman told ‘Variety’. “I am alive and well and an active producer.”

And those blue ribbons you saw …

… were for a very good cause too

 
For a full list of winners at the 20176 Oscars, click here.

For a red carpet fashion score card, click here.

And for our regularly scheduled pornography, click here

 
 
Explore the best in queer independent cinema: “Nova Dubai”, “Zolushka”, “Raspberry Reich GR”, “Doors Cut Down”, “I Want Your Love.” “100 Boyfriends Mixtape,” “Hattie Goes Cruising,”, “Catharsis” and all of films selected for NakedSword Film Works (NSFW).