Chadwick Boseman was the front-runner to win the award for Best Actor at the 2021 Oscars. But despite the odds being in his favour, he was not given the trophy. Instead, it went to Anthony Hopkins for The Father. Anthony was not at the ceremony nor did he Zoom in.
The late actor gave a truly riveting performance in Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and people are not feeling good about the outcome; particularly since the showrunners rearranged the show and the Best Actor category was unusually saved for last (behind Best Picture and Best Actress). This led some to assume that the producers of the Oscars planned to end on a poignant note to Chadwick.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was Chadwick’s last project before he died from colon cancer last August. A win would have given Chadwick his first and only Academy Award. After Boseman’s tragic and sudden death in 2020, the late actor won many of the major precursors leading up to the Oscars, and was expected to win.
But instead, Anthony Hopkins, who last won the same award in 1992 for Silence of the Lambs, got the award. Anthony Hopkins, who was not in attendance. Before anyone had time to figure out what was going on, the awards show just ended. No outro music, no big speech on Hopkins’s behalf, just a cut to commercial.
The reaction from fans to the outcome of the Oscars speaks volumes. As @wakandaupdates put it on Twitter, “The #Oscars not only used Chadwick’s image for profit; but they deliberately rearranged their category showing to have his go up last to boost their viewership, only to hand the award to someone else.”
Many called the show disorganised, confused, exploitative, chaotic, and unhinged; among other things. As a programme meant to have a firm grasp on cultural significance, the Oscars truly shat the proverbial bed on this one and proved that they indeed have no idea what they’re doing. The show was anticlimatic to say the least.
Source: Cosmopolitan
