Moonlight director Barry Jenkins on the Oscar speech he wanted to give

After the echo-chambered shitstorm that was the #Oscarssowhite scandal, it would have nearly been a miracle if Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, a throbbing, emotional howl tracing the life of a poor, gay black man didn’t take home the Best Picture. Since the Oscars takes place on live television, anything can happen. It has won Best Picture and racking up the awards at every award show it has been nominated from the Gold Globes to the British Academy Awards. That was the positive about all of this. Variety published an article that covers photos and timeline on how things happened between PricewaterhouseCoopers accountant Brian Cullinan and the presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.

You may not recognize yourself in this story of the minefields of modern masculinity, the ravages of a homophobic culture and the complexities of growing up as a black man in America. It also has the best written and acted scene of the year between Affleck and Williams.

Yet, on the whole, I felt like Kimmel’s performance as a host lacked the usual class, wit and sensitivity to the delicate balance between what’s amusing and what’s potentially racist or sexist that the Oscars requires. Having made $22.2 million at the box office, it’s one of the littlest-seen best-picture winners ever.

Chazelle added: “Everything looked so energised, I at first thought there was some kind of prank going on”.

La La Land won six Oscars of 14 nominations. Just as the director, Damien Chazelle, was giving his acceptance speech, it was announced that there was a mistake, and Moonlight had actually won the award.

“Moonlight”, about a young boy struggling with poverty and his sexuality in Miami, also brought a supporting actor Oscar for first timer Mahershala Ali, a best adapted screenplay statuette. I enjoy Stone very much in the film, but Ruth Negga (Loving) and Natalie Portman (Jackie) both deserve it more than Stone. And the themes this film tackles and explores are as timeless as they are universal. It is a story that is not told in film often.

How to possibly recap what will likely go down in history as one of the weirdest Oscar ceremonies of all time? Most industry watchers predicted a “La La Land” victory, with a “Moonlight” upset seen as possible but not likely. Instead, he said, “This is much bigger than me. Doing the right thing is more important that doing what’s right for me”. I cried deeply when I realized what was happening in “Manchester by the Sea“. I found the center story of “Moonlight” to behold one of the greatest adolescent performances ever. The director has shared the speech he meant to give. So what I think of possibility, let’s take it off the table. I want to cheer for the children in “Sing”.

“And for four years, we will not leave you alone, we will not forget you”.

Last Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony was full of political moments – whether it was when Lin-Manuel Miranda wore a ribbon for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), or when Emma Stone wore a pin for Planned Parenthood, or when the victor of the Best Foreign Language Film skipped the ceremony to make a statement against President Donald J. Trump’s travel ban, viewers at home were reminded again of Hollywood’s politics.

Roger W. Thomas is a member of the North Carolina Film Critics Association and reviews films for The SNAP.