Moonlight's Speech that never was
Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 11:15AM
Moonlight’s best picture win is historic. It’s the first gay themed film to win the big award. Also the first one to win with an all black cast (more trivia here). However its big moment of course was stolen by the big debacle that was the best picture presentation.
Let’s shine a light back on Moonlight and its director Barry Jenkins. Here is the speech he would’ve given, had the presentation went as planned...
As told to EW:
[Moonlight playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney] and I are this kid. We are Chiron. And you don’t think that kid grows up to be nominated for eight Academy Awards. It’s not a dream he’s allowed to have. I still feel that way. I didn’t think this was possible. But now I look at other people looking at me and if I didn’t think it was possible, how are they going to? But now it’s happened. So what I think of possibility, let’s take it off the table. The thing has happened.
Wonderful speech, no?
It has echoes of Viola Davis famous SAG speech for The Help (2011) “dream big, dream fierce”. It also echoes what his co-writer McCraney said when accepting the best adapted screenplay award:
This goes out to all those black and brown boys and girls and non-gender-conforming who don't see themselves, we're trying to show you you and us. Thank you, thank you. This is for you.
Moonlight’s win is huge. It has to share these first few days of its history with La La Land for reasons none of the people behind either film had anything to do with. That won’t last long. Soon all the history books will have only one name as 2016’s best picture winner: Moonlight.
Reader Comments (15)
Amen. Just watched it again on Netflix last night (a welcome alternative to watching our awful new president's SOTU address). It's just a beautiful film, raw and poetic, gorgeously directed and performed. Still so happy it won the big prize, for so many reasons.
Yes. As long as the coverage transitions from attention on the snafu to attention on Moonlight itself, I will be happy. It is just so amazing that a film like this won and I'm STILL seeing comments on other sites about how such "typical," "traditional" Oscar fare won, etc. Ugh, gross.
Of course the snafu shouldn't grab all the attention. Moonlight should be celebrated as the Best Picture of the year independent of what went wrong Sunday night. And yes, it is unfortunate that their moment was compromised.
But there's something to be said about being eternally connected to such a moment. Most of us probably couldn't name the Best Picture winner of any random year. But people will always remember what won the year they screwed up the announcement.
Of course, Moonlight should be remembered on the merits of its own quality. But if it also gets remembered for this, and that leads people to it, that's okay too.
Best Picture: Moonlight
Best Documentary - Feature: O.J.: Made in America
Best Foreign Language Film: The Salesman
Best Animated Feature: Zootopia
That's one for the time capsule.
The shock will subside, and Moonlight will emerge from the fog as a fully formed, infinitely deserving Best Picture winner. And the way it won--as an affirmation of people's inherent grace, respect and community--will ensure its legacy.
Yeah but do we have to diminish 12 years a slave? Who cares if it didn't have an all black cast or that it's black writer was different from its black director. Let's not be so intellectually exclusive over what constitutes a film that tells the black experience
Yeah but do we have to diminish 12 years a slave? Who cares if it didn't have an all black cast or that it's black writer was different from its black director. Let's not be so intellectually exclusive over what constitutes a film that tells the black experience
^^^Huh?
It's one of the Best, Best Picture wins ever. To me, it's on the level of Gone with the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, Midnight Cowboy, Casablanca... it becomes the Best in my book, of the XXIst century surpassing "The King's Speech", "No Country for Old Men", "Return of the King" and "Chicago". It's an important film and a crucial victory, not just for the LGTB and the african-american communities... but for filmmaking in general. It's a film conceived as a piece of art, not as an awar-bait stunt, as "La La Land" is at core - I doubt it has a soul. That made me double happy to see "La La Land"'s producers forced to hand the Oscar to the Best Picture of the year, after thinking their original goal was achieved.
It's filmmaking, not vanity, what has to be praised.
Paul Outlaw: you nailed it.
... and yeah, Trump got the message.
I thought as was, the speech was actually very powerful, Handled beautifully under the circumstances.
However... not one single mention of the LGBT community during any of their acceptance speeches? The word "gay" was never even uttered once. Gender non-conforming was as close as we got.
It's a lovely sentiment, but why would Barry Jenkins (director/screenwriter) give a speech for Best Picture, even without the snafu? That award goes to the producers and they get to give the speeches. Jenkins did not have a producer credit on Moonlight as far as I can tell.
Great writeup; this is such an important film. I hope more people see it. It should be doing Manchester by the Sea box office numbers.
They made a wonderful film that has reached unimaginable height and hopefully thanks to their well earned Oscar will be seeing by a wider audience. It does what great cinema should do open our eyes and let's us experience a life from another perspective.
Indeed "Let’s shine a light back on Moonlight"... that movie. I'm tearing up remembering that it won best picture. Best best picture winner of all time?