Hm, well, first of all OscarsSoWhite was neither pointless nor stupid. As Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie says in her speech "The Danger of a Single Story" it is vital that entertainment and art are as diverse as possible. We gain nothing from the Single Story. Just entitlement, which you can observe in people (i.e. white men) crying over two Star Wars films having a female lead in a row..

Then, yes, I think Moonlight deserved it. It is a phenomenal film, with magnificent cinematography, a great story, a wonderful way to tell this story and incredible performances. It creates a unique atmosphere.

But apart from that I have to agree with what Viola Davis said in her acceptance speech yesterday: "Exhume those bodies! Exhume those stories!" And I think Moonlight did that. It told a story that was rarely told before, especially in cinema. A story about a black, poor, gay drug dealer. It's a love story and it's a social drama, showing us how complex the constructed masculinity in our society works and which role it plays in ostracizing people by forcing them into this absurd construct.

Sooo, La La Land is a good movie, no doubt about it. But Moonlight is more beautiful, braver and more relevant than La La Land, so it deserved every Academy Award it got.

I think it's odd that folks still argue over which film "deserved" an award. It's just a collection of opinions. It changes based on social values, personal preference, and the make-up of the Oscar judges. In the end, a movie is only as good as YOU think it is. If you didn't think Moonlight was more deserving than La La Land, what difference does an award make to your enjoyment of it?

SunParakeet believes, for instance, that films should be honored that tell a new story, an old story in a new way, or which present new points of view. That is SunParakeet's yardstick. Personally, I don't care one whit about an Oscar, an Emmy, or any of the other awards. I'm sure it means something to folks in Hollywood, especially those from independent film companies, who depend upon positive word-of-mouth to finance their next project. But I barely glance at the honors a film has received before I decide whether or not I'll watch it.

But in the end, and only in my opinion, Moonlight was no more deserving of a Best Picture award than was La La Land, Hidden Figures, or even Captain America: Civil War. Each one is last year's "Best Picture" to someone and who are you to tell them differently?

@virics said:

I agree the Oscars is basically just a popularity contest. But that's still worth discussing, because the judges' decisions are definitely affected by public opinion and the political climate. So it's inevitable that people would associate this year's results with OscarsSoWhite. And that's a shame because it's doing no one any good.

This isn't 1940s anymore. The US just had a black president for 8 years. I think people of any race should call out the bullshit of blatant identity politics movements like OscarsSoWhite. Identity politics is racism marketed in a different way. Racism will only cease to exist if we stop caring about race.

I don't think we have the same definition of racism. How can OscarsSoWhite be racist?

"I can't help feeling that Moonlight's win is a sop to 'diversity'."

No doubt.

Now if La La Land had been a trans-gender musical...

@virics said:

@SunParakeet said:

I don't think we have the same definition of racism. How can OscarsSoWhite be racist?

Because it leads to people being awarded for their skin color instead of their merit just to satisfy the "diversity goal". And that won't do them any good because the achievement of people of that certain skin color will be tainted by it, just like the case of Moonlight.

oscarsowhite is a call for people to be awarded based on merit, not because they are white, or white male. look at the ratio of men to women wins for best director. which is more likely, than people who have white skin and a penis are naturally better directors, or that there is a bias against women directors? the non-white to white ratio for best actress is equally telling. it is interesting that people such as yourself don't see that when award after award goes to white creatives, leaving out equally talented non white people (i'm not just talking about black people here, but asians, hispanics, etc) that this is the very definition of awards based on skin colour rather than talent.

to answer the original question, moonlight is exactly the sort of picture that will win best picture - stylish and stylised and an examination of humanity and overcoming difference. that is oscar bait for sure. i would probably have given the oscar to arrival, but i don't have any issues with moonlight winning.

la la land is a pleasant distraction for a few hours, but it is candyfloss.

@virics said:

@SunParakeet said:

I don't think we have the same definition of racism. How can OscarsSoWhite be racist?

Because it leads to people being awarded for their skin color instead of their merit just to satisfy the "diversity goal". And that won't do them any good because the achievement of people of that certain skin color will be tainted by it, just like the case of Moonlight.

That was not the point of OscarsSoWhite. It's not about giving people awards who don't deserve it. It's about recognizing a bias within the academy and within the society. Just because Moonlight won best picture you say that it was because of the skin color. That is exactly what OscarsSoWhite tried to advocate against.

2015 had many movies by and with people of color which were overlooked by the Oscars: Creed, Tangerine, Straight Outta Compton, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Chi-Raq, ... How likely is it that none of these filmmakers and actors got a nomination. Not just 2016, but this is a trend that shows during the Oscar history, just look at the numbers of nominees during the last two decades. People of color are constantly overlooked, which means that white people get prizes, because of their skin color not the other way around. But with white people it's the norm, so you didn't notice it before.

Here's my perspective. Academy voters may have wanted to make an inclusion statement in response to #OscarSoWhite and had 3 choices in which to make a statement: Hidden Figures, a pleasant Hallmark movie of the week; Fences, an extraordinarily well-acted but not very adventutous cinematic adaptation of a beautifully written play; and Moonlight, a quiet coming of age tale rendered with unmistakeable cinematic panache. If i were to choose among these 3 to make a political point and still feel proud of my choice then Moonlight was the obvious choice (even if i wasn't making a social statement by my vote, i still would have placed Moonlight on top of the list ...).

Also consider Best Picture winners are voted using a preferential system, where a film placed 2nd and 3rd on MANY ballots could be victorious over a film that was listed #1 on just a few ballots. Taraji P. Henson, if she is an Academy member, would most certainly have placed Hidden Figures on her #1 slot (because she was in it & because it was one of the 9 nominees), but it won't be a stretch to think that she would have listed Moonlight in the #2 slot in her ballot.

Another thing: Academy members have become increasingly diverse and INTERNATIONAL. The Dardenne Brothers from Belgium I believe are members of the Academy. If you are familiar with their films, it would not be a stretch of the imagination that each brother placed Moonlight in the #1 slot of their respective best picture ballot.

In a nutshell, Oscar voted for inclusion & cinematic artistry.

I liked La La Land a little more than Moonlight but I wasnt surprised that Moonlight won.

I feel the same way, OP. OscarsSoWhite is complete bullshit.

As for who deserves the Oscar. I do not like La La Land, but Moonlight is even worse.

@PipedUpMovies said:

I have not watched either La La Land or Moonlight but I am seeing a lot of negative reviews for Moonlight on IMDB (although the overall rating is high). In normal circumstances, I would not question the winner that much, and I would certainly not look at the actors' and directors' skin colour, but coming a year after the OscarsSoWhite (in my opinion, pointless and stupid) movement, I can't help feeling that Moonlight's win is a sop to 'diversity'. Look, look, they're black. AND homosexual. How amazing! Heterosexual whites and their strange reproductive ways are being put in the their place!

Anyway, as I said, this would not be my normal reaction. Some of my favourite cinematic moments involve blacks or homosexuality but OscarsSoWhite has left a sour taste in my mouth and in my opinion will sully Moonlight's win because it makes it feel like a participation trophy to blacks instead of a real win.

I wonder what people who have watched La La Land and Moonlight think.

Not even close. Moonlight was overwrought. For some reason, made me think of Sean Penn in "I am Sam", meaning that the premise was much better, and sounds more "Oscar-Worthy" than the quality of the movie itself.

The two that should have won were: LaLa Land as the no brainer, but thought Hidden Figures was a very good movie and had the right politically correct/popular components.

How can OscarsSoWhite be racist?

I think most people see that hashtag as a call-out to the issue of race in Academy award selections. I think it will depend upon your point of view as to whether you think it's instructive or coercive. On one side of the issue, you might claim that it's simply highlighting a wrong so that in the future Academy voters will make a more informed decision. On the other side of the issue, I can also see how some would perceive it as a call to shame the Academy into selecting winners by skin color to stave off the perception that the Academy is racist.

I really do think that it's the latter. It's not that black, or actors of other races than caucasian, are better or worse than the rest of the nominees. But when you bring up the issue last year and a record number of winners are black or other races this year, it's not too much of a stretch to think that the campaign (as well as BlackLivesMatter) had an impact.

Hollywood is notoriously sensitive to public perception. And I firmly believe the goal was to shame the Academy members into voting more strongly on skin color than on merit, though that of course doesn't mean that the winners did NOT win on merit. But if you have two actors of equal skill in all areas and one is black and one is white, in 2017 and as an Academy member stung by last year's accusations, which one would you vote for?

I havent seen lala land yet but i have seen 4 of the others including moonlight and moonlight is well deserved out of the ones nominated that ove seen.

I couldn't make it through much of Moonlight, so I can't comment on it, wasn't a fan of LaLaLand - so I'd say, no, Moonlight didn't deserve the Oscar for best anything. My personal favorite and one of the few films made this century worthy of a Best Picture Oscar was "Manchester by the Sea"

Let's be blunt here, the choice of Moonlight was definitely political in nature to promote "diversity". Personally I still remain undecided between Manchester by the Sea and Hacksaw Ridge deserving the Best Picture award.

You can call me racist all you want, that's my opinion and I'm entitled to it just like everyone else.

For me, "Manchester by the Sea" would have deserved best picture. That was my overall favorite movie of 2016 (although there are still some I haven't seen).

That said, "Moonlight" I think is definitely a political win. The story is very simple, and told in a stylish but tedious way. The performances are strong, as is the cinematography, but to me it's style over substance and very blatant Oscar-bait. A friend of mine and me were actually making fun of it when watching it, saying "So he's poor, black, little, gay, and his mom's a prostitute. That's the best picture Oscar for sure.". So I went into the Oscars almost expecting yet another picture/director split. When "La La Land" was announced as winner, I thought "What? That can't be, I think they made a mistake." xD

Another political decision was the foreign movie category where "Toni Erdmann" was snubbed in order to give the award to Farhadi as an FU to Trump.

I'm all for making political statements at these types of Shows, but the decisions should have nothing to do with that!