We were expecting a political night at the 2017, and that’s what we got … sort of. Following Donald Trump‘s election, his appointment of controversial cabinet members, his racist rhetoric against immigrants, and his attempted ban on visitors from Muslim countries, several celebrities got on soap boxes at award shows throughout the season. We got some politics on the Oscar stage too, but perhaps not as much as had been anticipated. Did you like the politics of Oscar night? Did you want more Trump roasting? Or did you want less?
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The night opened with a victory by Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”) as Best Supporting Actor. The first Muslim to win an Oscar for acting had used his SAG acceptance speech to advocate for religious tolerance. But his Oscar speech was more strictly personal, announcing the birth of his child just days earlier.
We also heard a bit of politics from Best Documentary Feature winner Ezra Edelman (“O.J.: Made in America”), who dedicated his victory to Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, for whose murder Simpson was acquitted, and to the victims of police brutality, but he didn’t address Trump.
We did hear an explicit rebuke of Trump in the speech given by Anousheh Ansari on behalf of the Best Foreign Language Film winner “The Salesman,” from Iran. “Salesman” director Asghar Farhadi boycotted the Oscars to protest Trump’s Muslim ban, and Ansari read a statement from Farhadi addressing the immigration ban.
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Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel also took some shots at Trump, including one aimed directly at Trump. He tweeted Trump live during the telecast, saying “#MerylSaysHi,” but there was nothing on the level of Meryl Streep‘s own scorching speech at the Golden Globes when she accepted her Cecil B. DeMille Award, or David Harbour‘s epic SAG Awards oratory when accepting Best TV Drama Ensemble with the cast of “Stranger Things.” Oscar winner John Irving (“The Cider House Rules”) even advocated for more politics at the Oscars.
So what did you think of the political content at the Oscars this year? Vote in our poll below, and join the discussion in our forums.
