Oscars shocks audience with biggest mistake in show history

The 89th Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, took place on Feb. 26 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, and it was a show no one will soon forget.

The Academy Awards presents annual cinematic awards to the winners of categories such as Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Picture. Hosted this year by talk show comedian Jimmy Kimmel, the show kept me laughing as candy in parachutes dropped from the ceiling and actress Jennifer Aniston gave her sunglasses to a tourist.

To me, everything seemed to be going well: Justin Timberlake energized the crowd with his hit original song, “Can’t Stop The Feeling,” Kimmel and actor Matt Damon amused the audience with their ongoing fake feud and cookies and doughnuts were handed to the crowd.

2016 Oscar winner Brie Larson presented Casey Affleck with his first Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his emotional and captivating performance in “Manchester by the Sea,” while beloved actress Emma Stone won Best Actress in a Leading Role for her stunning work in the movie musical “La La Land.” I can’t say much about Affleck’s win, since I haven’t seen many of his movies and therefore don’t know if I like his acting, but I was overjoyed to see Stone pick up an Oscar.

But the real highlight of the night and the moment that I was waiting for, after watching the awards ceremony for three hours, was the announcement of Best Picture. This year’s Best Picture announcement began past the time that the show was supposed to end; I just wanted to hear the winner, scream in joy (or sadness, depending on which movie won) and go to bed. But all my tiredness disappeared the second that the iconic duo Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, who played Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in “Bonnie and Clyde,” stepped out on stage to announce Best Picture.

Personally, I wanted “La La Land” to win. I love musicals and have a special place in my heart for dancing, especially tap dancing. So you can imagine my excitement when “La La Land” was announced as the winner. That excitement unfortunately only lasted two and a half minutes before the stage was swarming with stage managers and confused faces. No one knew what was going on until “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz went to the microphone and said “‘Moonlight,’ you guys won Best Picture.”

I was honestly a little crushed and, of course, shocked. I’m sure “Moonlight” is a phenomenal movie, but my heart was set on “La La Land” winning. However, with the racial controversy that has surrounded the Oscars in previous years, the fact that “Moonlight” won with its cast of mainly African American actors demonstrated progress.

Huge themes of the Oscars in recent years have been diversity and inclusion. When “Moonlight” took the award, it took the Oscars a step further into the diverse community that so many viewers wanted. But both films still could have arguably been winners since they are so different from each other and it would be nearly impossible to compare the two. In fact, if both had won, it would have showed a friendly reconciliation of the two different groups in Hollywood rather than only having one winner.

Regarding the flub, I’m still dumbfounded as to how such a large mistake could be made at a show like the Oscars, but reports say Beatty and Dunaway were given the wrong card to read; they were given the second copy of the Best Actress in a Leading Role card by a partner from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the company that has led the balloting process for the Oscars for 83 years.

If I felt depressed and a little angry, I can’t even imagine how the “La La Land” cast must have felt after thinking they had won for a couple of minutes, only to learn they hadn’t. I went to bed that night stunned and unable to comprehend what really happened during the show. I understand that mistakes happen, but announcing the wrong Best Picture is the worst mistake the Academy could possibly make.

Even though the Oscars ended in a disappointing result for Best Picture winner for me, it was probably the most interesting show I have ever witnessed. I trust that “Moonlight” deserved Best Picture, but I still think “La La Land” deserved one too, especially after all the cast and crew went through. At least the “La La Land” cast won six other Oscars.