Jamie Lee Curtis’ Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress received almost instant backlash on social media from Marvel and Angela Bassett fans as well as those who believed the win was “racist” for giving an award to a white woman for starring in a predominantly Asian-led movie. Curtis won the award on Sunday night for her role inEverything Everywhere All at Once, beating off competition from, among others, Bassett and Stephanie Hsu. While many were quick to celebrate the actress’ win after five decades in the business, there were others who were not so impressed with the result.
First up, there were those whobelieved Angela Bassett should have walked away with the awardfor her role inBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever. Having already won several awards for her portrayal of Queen Ramonda, Bassett was a favorite going into the ceremony and it seemed almost certain that should would be the first star of a Marvel movie to pick up the prestigious accolade. However, when it was announced that Curtis was actually the winner, the reaction was immediate.
Even footage of the announcement was jumped on by Twitter users, who noted that Bassett remained seated when Curtis went up to receive her award, with a mixture of reactions. However, Bassett did get a not from Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors when they came out later to present an award, with the latter saying, “We love you.”
Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Many Oscar Wins Were Not Enough For Some.
DespiteEverything Everywhere All At Oncebeing the biggest winner of the night, including Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan picking up history-making Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor awards, there were some who believed Jamie Lee Curtis’ co-star and fellow Best Supporting Actress nominee Stephanie Hsu should have taken the award instead. Numerous comments returned to calling out the Academy’s decision as racist for picking “the only white woman in an Asian-led movie” to take the accolade. However, this seemed to miss the fact that over the course of the night the movie saw more Asian winners taking home statuettes than ever in the history of the awards.
Representation at the Oscarsis never going to please everyone. When an awards category is selecting a single winner from hundreds of potential winners, and the ratio of white actors, directors and writers remains high, the probability of numerous minority groups being “snubbed” is always likely.
Overall, this year’s Academy Awards ceremony did not throw up any real upsets or surprises, and it managed to focus on the awards themselves rather than other events likelast year’s infamous slap. However, it is clear that the chances of the results being unanimously applauded is still a long way off, and social media’s place in allowing people to air their displeasure is something that is here to stay. For the winners though, it is unlikely that anyone can take their moment away from them as they celebrate being the newest Oscar recipients.
