The Oscars 2024 were, by all accounts, well received: a fun, breezy ceremony (over in about three and a half hours!) that had a couple of genuine surprises in store, plus Ryan Gosling’s show-stopping performance of “I’m Just Ken.” There was even an applauding dog! But as always, Oscar attendees and observers have a few bees in their bonnets, from The Zone of Interest director Jonathan Glazer’s pro-cease-fire speech to the ever-contentious In Memoriam segment. Who’s mad about what? Let’s break it down.
Who’s Mad? Pro-Israel conservatives with poor listening skills.
Why? They have decided to willfully misinterpret Glazer, who said in his speech—the only one from Sunday night that directly addressed the war in Gaza—that he and Zone producer James Wilson “stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people, whether the victims of October 7 in Israel or the ongoing attack in Gaza.” Select onlookers, including former Anti-Defamation League head Abraham Foxman and former Reagan speechwriter John Podhoretz, have quoted only the first part of Glazer’s sentence, claiming that the director said onstage that he refutes his Jewish identity. This response, of course, has angered even more people, stoking a backlash to the backlash.
Who’s Mad? Anyone hoping to see who the Oscars would honor in the 2024 In Memoriam segment.
Why? As usual, the Academy got flack for leaving a number of names out of the annual montage, neglecting to show the likes of Lance Reddick, Treat Williams, and Ron Cephas Jones onscreen. (Their names were instead included in a big list that flashed briefly at the end of the segment.) But the presentation of this year’s In Memoriam sequence was particularly baffling: Even the people whose faces were included receded as the cameras foregrounded a group of dancers and father-son duo Andrea and Matteo Bocelli performing “Con te partirò,” one of Bocelli Sr.’s signature songs. “I’m usually a big fan of the ‘In Memoriam’ Oscar segment, but #Oscars2024 screwed it up in a major way,” complained film critic Kenneth Turan. “Half the time the letters were so far away and blocked by dancers I couldn’t read who the hell they were honoring. Disgraceful.” You know who wasn’t mad? Patrons of the Catalina Wine Mixer.
Who’s Mad? Members of the Martin Scorsese hive.
Why? Going into the ceremony, admirers of Scorsese’s masterful Killers of the Flower Moon knew that the film might walk away from the show with only a single Oscar win to show for its 10 nominations. Then Emma Stone won best actress over Lily Gladstone in a not quite upset that still hit with a jolt—and meant Flower Moon would leave the ceremony without winning any Oscars at all. Arguably, it’s in good company: Scorsese’s own Gangs of New York and The Irishman both got 10 nominations and no wins as well. And Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple went down even harder, with 11 nods but no wins. At least Marty had a good seat for “I’m Just Ken.”
Who’s Mad? Barbie girls and Leonard Bernsteiniacs.
Why? The righteous anger at Greta Gerwig’s best-director snub and Margot Robbie being left out of the best-actress competition was not, in the end, channeled into further Oscar support for Barbie. The movie won just one award Sunday night, for best original song. And just like Flower Moon, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro—which received seven nominations—was blanked, making Cooper one of the most-nominated people without an Oscar win in recent history. Consolation prize?
Who’s Mad? Robert Downey Jr.
Why? The eventual best-supporting-actor winner did not appreciate host Jimmy Kimmel’s jabs at Downey’s history of drug addiction. “This is the highest point of Robert Downey Jr.’s long and illustrious career. Well, one of the highest points,” Kimmel joked at the beginning of the ceremony. A stony-faced Downey responded by tapping his nose, prompting Kimmel to reply, “Was that too on the nose? Or was that a drug motion you made?” Downey motioned for Kimmel to wrap it up, but the Jimmy Kimmel Live host wasn’t done just yet: He asked the Oppenheimer star whether he had an acceptance speech in his pocket or “just a very rectangular penis” and brought up his poorly received 2006 family comedy The Shaggy Dog as Downey looked on without cracking a single smile.
