Several hot stories come out of the Oscars ceremony each year and the 2019 event was no different.
There were some hot red carpet looks that completely shattered gender norms, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga‘s mega-lusty performance of “Shallow”, and the worrying amount of attention given to actors doing impressions of real-life people.
But without question the biggest thing to come out of the 2019 ceremony was the success of Black Panther, and what all that means for diversity and superhero films.
Black Panther made history right off the bat by being the first superhero film to be nominated for Best Picture. After years of superhero films being snubbed – particularly The Dark Knight in 2008, and Wonder Woman and Logan in 2017 – vindication had finally come for comic book fans everywhere.
Regardless of whether it won or not (SPOILER: it didn’t), the fact that it was nominated has helped made the case that superhero movies are in fact worthy of Best Picture and not just some flimsy Most Popular Film category the Academy made up to appease everyone.
But beyond breaking new ground for superhero films at the Oscars, Black Panther‘s success also represents a big win for diversity at this year’s ceremony.
Of the three wins Black Panther racked up at the 2019 Oscars, two were historic firsts.
Ruth E. Carter became the first African American to win Best Costume Design while Hannah Beachler became the first African American to win Best Production Design. In fact, 2019 was the first year in the history of the Oscars in which more than one black woman won an award.
This was just the tip of the diversity iceberg though as several big categories were won by people of colour:
- Alfonso Cuarón won his second Best Director gong for Roma (which also picked up Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography)
- Mahershala Ali picked up his second Best Supporting Actor statuette for Green Book
- Regina King won Best Supporting Actress for the criminally-snubbed If Beale Street Could Talk
- Spike Lee and Kevin Willmott won Best Adapted Screenplay for the brilliant BlacKkKlansman
- Domee Shi won Best Animated Short Film win for her fantastic Pixar short, Bao.
Even the presenters used their limited time onstage to promote diversity. Just witness Javier Bardem’s beautiful little moment:
"There are no borders or walls that can restrain ingenuity and talent," Javier Bardem ????????pic.twitter.com/YJ4jsyV0xi
— Wendi ?✨ (@moonchild722) February 25, 2019
It remains to be seen whether all this represents the long-awaited paradigm shift we’ve been waiting to see at the Oscars for years or if 2019 was just a lightning in a bottle moment.
But for now, let’s just revel in the fact that for once, the Oscars actually didn’t drop the ball – oh wait, there was the fustercluck that was the Best Picture winner category.
Having Green Book win over films like Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Roma, The Favourite, or even A Star Is Born is just a travesty.
Oh Oscars, you were so close to a good ceremony. But hey, baby steps I suppose.