The highly anticipated Academy Awards not only provided Leonardo DiCaprio with his first Oscar win after six nominations, but it also gave many winners the opportunity to voice their opinions this past Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
After a number of actors such as Jada Pinkett-Smith and her husband, Will Smith, stated they wouldn’t be attending the award show due to lack of diversity in the Academy, many people were intrigued to find out how host Chris Rock, would handle the situation.
Rock, of course, handled the situation the only way he knew how- J and succeeded.
Fellow comedian, Kevin Hart, gave Rock some advice before the show telling him to make the audience uncomfortable then make them relax. Rock’s opening monologue did just that.
It’s just not in Rock’s nature to dance around a controversial topic. As he always does, Rock tackled the touchy subject head-on, keeping it serious, yet lighthearted. This was the theme throughout the entire night for Rock.
He also touched on the “Ask Her More” controversy that was the big discussion on the red carpet during last season’s award shows.
Rock wasn’t the only actor to bring light to problems in today’s society.
Nominated that evening for Best Original Song, Lady Gaga’s performance of, “Til It Happens To You” from the film The Hunting Ground, was considered one of the biggest highlights of the evening. Both the film and song were inspired by sexual assault survivors.
DiCaprio, an activist for the preservation of the environment, took advantage of his speech time to speak on the necessity of protecting the only earth that we have.
After being nominated six times in the last 20 years, DiCaprio won Best Achievement of an Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in The Revenant. The Revenant also took home three awards including Achievement in Cinematography.
“I do not take tonight for granted,” DiCaprio touchingly said before using the platform to speak to the audience about the reality of climate change.
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, also had a golden night himself taking home Best Achievement in Directing for the second consecutive year for his film, The Revenant which also took Best Achievement in Cinematography.
Another big winner of the evening was George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which took home six awards including Best Achievement in Film Editing.
Rising star, Alicia Vikander, took home Best Achievement of an Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance along side last year’s Best Actor in a Leading Role, Eddie Redmayne, in The Danish Girl.
Brie Larson, who had been sweeping up awards this season for her performance in the film Room, took home Best Achievement for an Actress in a Leading Role.
Many believe some of the biggest surprises of the evening were the winners of Best Actor in a Supporting Role and the biggest award of them all, Best Film.
Shakespearean actor, Mark Rylance, took the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in The Bridge of Spies.
Though many believe Sylvester Stallone would be taking the award for his performance in Creed, it was actually Stallone who believed Rylance would be winning the award that evening.
Spotlight, a film about the Boston Globe and their investigation into a Catholic priest accused of raping 80 boys, seemed to be the underdog of the evening and took home the Academy Award for Best Picture.