There was no opening monologue, no song and dance, and no jokes. Regina King introduced the Oscars, but could not open celebration without first acknowledging the hardships that preceded and surrounded it. Kicking of the 93rd Academy Awards, which looked surprisingly cinematic in its ABC telecast, the Oscar-winning actress did not hold back.
“It has been quite a year, and we are still smack dab in the middle of it,” she said before invoking the recent conviction of the Minnesota police officer who murdered George Floyd, which sparked widespread protests in the midst of the pandemic lockdown. King noted that it would be difficult to celebrate anything if not for that just verdict.
“We are mourning the loss of so many, and I have to be honest, if things had gone differently this past week in Minneapolis I might have traded in my heels for marching boots,” she said to applause.
Then she confronted the common complaint about politics arising at such ceremonies. “Now, I know that a lot of you people at home want to reach for your remote when you feel like Hollywood is preaching to you, but as the mother of a Black son I know the fear that so many live with, and no amount of fame or fortune changes that,” King said.
“Tonight, we are here to celebrate,” she added. “This was indeed a hard year for everyone. Our love of movies helped to get us through. It helped us feel less isolated and connected us when we felt apart.”
From there, she went to the first two awards of the night, recognizing Emerald Fennell for the original screenplay to Promising Young Woman, the first woman to claim the award since Diablo Cody won for Juno in 2008 years ago, and Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton for the adapted screenplay to The Father.
Developing through the night …
— Oscar Predictions 2021: Who Will Win at the Academy Awards?
— Julia Roberts and the Gladiator: Recapping the 2001 Oscar Ceremony
— Chadwick Boseman, Glenn Close, Frances McDormand: 2021 Nominees at Their First-Ever Oscars
— Chadwick Boseman’s Best and Boldest Roles
— Your Guide to Each Best-Picture Nominee’s Stars and Scandals
— How Inclusive Could the 2021 Winners List Be?
— Carey Mulligan’s Greatest Roles, From Doctor Who to Promising Young Woman
— Nomadland Is Stirring Up Controversy. Does the Academy Care?
— Not a subscriber? Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.