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Why It's Important to Recognize That "Moonlight" Was Robbed Of Its Moment

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Kinyou

Member
If you read the full article, the author doesn't suggest that there is a massive conspiracy behind the mishap. Rather, it just conveys the reality of the situation and the emotions around it.
I still find it really hard to imagine that the situation would have been different if, let's say, Arrival had been the legitimate winner. The article makes the assumption that the reaction was prejudiced, but since the situation never happened before it's hard to conclude that
 

Almighty

Member
I will agree that they were somewhat robbed of their moment, but this article is reaching to me.

What happened didn't look like a sign or insight into institutional racism or whatever people are going to assign to it, but a fuck up with no precedent that left people running around like chickens without their heads. Yes things could have been done better, but I didn't see anything that happened that probably wouldn't have happened had any other movie been the real winner. Since it was Moonlight though, we are going to get many articles examining every detail looking for anything that fits the argument or observation people want to make for a long time.
 

Klocker

Member
Yea it was a shitty thing to happen and not fair. But mistakes happen people are human.

I'm sad that moonlight did not get the credit it deserved at that moment but I do not see a concerted effort to disrupt or distort their victory... but it still sucks.
 

Abelard

Member
Talk about making a mountain of a molehill. Yes it was a goof, no it has no significance whatsoever. First of all its an award show, so lol at anyone who puts stock in these things and actually thinks of them as important in validating a films quality. Second of all, it was an honest mistake- anyone trying to derive meaning from it should be embarrassed.
 

Xe4

Banned
I think it's fine to see the symbolism in the whole affairs but to assign the whole thing to anything more than an honest mistake is fucking reaching.

Honest mistakes happen, it just so happened to be Moonlight getting the "short end of the stick". I honestly don't think there was any greater or lesser chance for it to happen to any other movie.
 
It might have a benign pretense, but there's a push in shitty blogs to acknowledge Moonlight as best picture, but to always include the La La Land mixup in the exact same breath, almost as a way to apologize or atone for the incident.

You don't think this is at least in part because it was an enormous fuckup that people will remember for years? Don't forget the other objective they could have besides apologizing to American that black people won Best Picture; accurately reporting what happened.

Regardless of what Variety features on their cover people will always associate Moonlight with this incident of their own accord. I don't see the issue with referencing a historic moment at a prestigious awards show.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
I think the most damning indication of the continual fallout is how Variety is known for showcasing Oscar winners in the issue immediately following the ceremony.

For Moonlight however?

It might have a benign pretense, but there's a push in shitty blogs to acknowledge Moonlight as best picture, but to always include the La La Land mixup in the exact same breath, almost as a way to apologize or atone for the incident.

The narrative of Moonlight winning best picture will remain tarnished for years because people can't help but bright up the dumb annotation an honest, dumb, hopefully forgettable mistake.

You're really reaching here to see deliberate intention to be malicious when there is none. "Tarnished"? Really now.
 

Tansut

Member
I will agree that they were somewhat robbed of their moment, but this article is reaching to me.

What happened didn't look like a sign or insight into institutional racism or whatever people are going to assign to it, but a fuck up with no precedent that left people running around like chickens without their heads. Yes things could have been done better, but I didn't see anything that happened that probably wouldn't have happened had any other movie had been the real winner. Since it was Moonlight though we are going to get many articles examining every detail looking for anything that fits the argument or observation people want to make for a long time.
Pretty much this. It's tragic that for all the times a fuckup could have happened, it actually had to occur during the award for such an important breakthrough of a movie. But at the same time I don't see how things would have been handled at all differently if it was another film that was supposed to win.

The La La Land dude would have wrangled things and gotten whoever won up there as soon as he could, Kimmel would have made some dumb jokes to try and lighten the mood, and the proper winner would have had a sullied win.
 
You're really reaching here to see deliberate intention to be malicious when there is none. "Tarnished"? Really now.
"Tarnished" in the sense that it flat out won best picture, period. And that achievement is worth celebrating without having to pay lip service to a mistake.

Reference again, Barry Jenkins not getting a solo Vanity cover.
 

kswiston

Member
I think the most damning indication of the continual fallout is how Variety is known for showcasing Oscar winners in the issue immediately following the ceremony.



For Moonlight however?

Spotlight won last year, and 12 Years a Slave won in 2013. Those didn't get covers at all. I don't see how Moonlight was slighted. You would have had a point if Jenkins won best director as well.
 

99Luffy

Banned
C5z_IJ0XMAA3Yku.jpg
Co-winners of best picture.
 

karasu

Member
I read an article that used this as further proof that we live in a simulated universe and our controllers have gone awol.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
"Tarnished" in the sense that it flat out won best picture, period. And that achievement is worth celebrating without having to pay lip service to a mistake.

Reference again, Barry Jenkins not getting a solo Vanity cover.

It's Variety, and if it's 'the way it's supposed to be like usual' then Barry Jenkins wouldn't even be in that cover.
 
"Tarnished" in the sense that it flat out won best picture, period. And that achievement is worth celebrating without having to pay lip service to a mistake.

Reference again, Barry Jenkins not getting a solo Vanity cover.

Again, it was a historic moment. Years from now it'd seem weird if someone talked about the 2016 election and left at "Trump won" with no mention of the drama, Clinton's campaign, the media's role in the whole thing, etc. Yes, you can boil down the election to a simple "Trump won," but people remember much more than that.

I haven't seen many people saying they think La La Land deserved the award over Moonlight. Talking about the insane, extremely memorable circumstances that the award was given in doesn't "tarnish" what the award represents.

Oh... well, oops on my part.

Still not a fan of the off the cuff Kimmel rapport though.

Brilliant.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I haven't seen many people saying they think La La Land deserved the award over Moonlight. Talking about the insane, extremely memorable circumstances that the award was given in doesn't "tarnish" what the award represents.



Brilliant.

This entire line of thinking by some in this thread is akin to saying that the Patriots' Super Bowl wins in 2015 and 2017 were "sullied" because people talk about how they came back from an unprecedented deficit in one and in the other the Seahawks failed at the goal line.
 

Raiden

Banned
Lol this is why gen z hate us. We just accused them of racism, homophobia, bigotry all because some guy got distracted by Emma stone and gave the presenters the wrong envelope.

They weren't robbed of anything. They got their fucking award right on the stage. Why do people care so much about the optics. Stop bitching and look at what happened. They corrected their mistake and admitted they Fucked up.

Yes it wasn't perfect but nothing in life is perfect. Shit happens. Stop moaning about what's fair and move the Fuck on.

This.

I like this post.

I swear some of you need to get out more and stop triggering on everything that does not go the way you thought it would.
 
I will agree that they were somewhat robbed of their moment, but this article is reaching to me.

What happened didn't look like a sign or insight into institutional racism or whatever people are going to assign to it, but a fuck up with no precedent that left people running around like chickens without their heads. Yes things could have been done better, but I didn't see anything that happened that probably wouldn't have happened had any other movie been the real winner. Since it was Moonlight though, we are going to get many articles examining every detail looking for anything that fits the argument or observation people want to make for a long time.

Yeah, institutional racism is (obviously) a huge problem, but you can't point to it when you have a sample size of 1. It frustrates me when I see well-meaning people use really tiny sample sizes to try to make points like this. (The recent Ryan Reynolds thread here wasn't as bad as this, but had a similar problem.) It leads to an incredibly weak argument which frankly isn't going to convince any 'non-believers'. If you want to change any minds, it's really simple, try to make good arguments. Don't waste time on clouds of nonsense.
 

Speevy

Banned
J.K. Simmons could have deflated all the tension by doing that snapping thing he does in La La Land as they were led off the stage.
 
Lol this is why gen z hate us. We just accused them of racism, homophobia, bigotry all because some guy got distracted by Emma stone and gave the presenters the wrong envelope.

They weren't robbed of anything. They got their fucking award right on the stage. Why do people care so much about the optics. Stop bitching and look at what happened. They corrected their mistake and admitted they Fucked up.

Yes it wasn't perfect but nothing in life is perfect. Shit happens. Stop moaning about what's fair and move the Fuck on.

Yeah I'm inclined to agree with this
 
I mean the fact that a thread literally just saying "and yet the black movie wasn't allowed to just let it's moment be it's moment" turned into a bitch fest about whatever it is kinda proves the point.
 

Skux

Member
Talk about reading too much into things. At the end of the day, the film won best picture. That's what will be remembered.
 
I mean the fact that a thread literally just saying "and yet the black movie wasn't allowed to just let it's moment be it's moment" turned into a bitch fest about whatever it is kinda proves the point.

Pointing out that depriving the creators their moment was a complete mistake is bitching?

"Wasn't allowed" makes it sound like the situation was deliberate.
 
Yeah I'm inclined to agree with this

Me too. It was an unfortunate situation that, yes, coincidentally became a representation of how even when PoC's succeed, the sweet moment still gets diluted by white people. But, the deliberate attempt to sabatoge Moonlights moment wasn't there. It was an unfortunate mistake. And articles like this trying to imply Kimmel was a racist for jokingly saying "I think you guys should still keep it" in attempt to lighten the awkward moment is a damaging stretch.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
Exactly.

I get that it was an awkward exchange, but Kimmels first response was to undermine the award--even jokingly, it was tacky and tone deaf

He was panicking, everyone was panicking, why are we nitpicking what a man who was shitting himself in front of millions of people said? Cut everyone up their same slack.
 

Deepwater

Member
The article was a response to the frustration that even in the historic moment of Moonlight winning, it now has to share that moment with LLL, and instead of commenting and recognizing the historic achievement, (white) people focused on the humility and graciousness of that particular producer from LLL. Nobody, not even the article, is presuming a conspiracy.

Maybe if you all took the time to actually engage the concerns of black people instead of just accusing us of bitching and moaning, people wouldn't have to write articles about this. But clearly, a lot of you are just sick and tired of hearing about us poor negro folk complaining even though "we won".
 

KHarvey16

Member
Maybe if you all took the time to actually engage the concerns of black people instead of just accusing us of bitching and moaning, people wouldn't have to write articles about this. But clearly, a lot of you are just sick and tired of hearing about us poor negro folk complaining even though "we won".

Who are you talking to here? It feels like people are trying really hard to twist everything said and done related to this event into something it isn't.
 

Fury451

Banned
Moonlight was most certainly robbed of its moment, but I wouldn't blame Kimmel for attempting damage control, or the producers of La La Land who handled it about as well as possible given the situation.

The backstage folks screwed it up and by that point the event overshadowed the win. It's really sad, and has been pointed out the post awards coverage is more at fault for focusing on the wrong thing.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
The article was a response to the frustration that even in the historic moment of Moonlight winning, it now has to share that moment with LLL, and instead of commenting and recognizing the historic achievement, (white) people focused on the humility and graciousness of that particular producer from LLL. Nobody, not even the article, is presuming a conspiracy.

Maybe if you all took the time to actually engage the concerns of black people instead of just accusing us of bitching and moaning, people wouldn't have to write articles about this. But clearly, a lot of you are just sick and tired of hearing about us poor negro folk complaining even though "we won".

Man, what a way to immediately shut down the discussion, to immediately accuse people who may not agree with you "white people tired hearing about negro folk." :/
 

border

Member
It's hard not to be more empathetic to the La La Land crew because they just had all their wildest dreams come true, and then had those dreams crushed within the span of a couple minutes. If the situation were reversed and the Moonlight crew were forced to hand over their statues to another film, would you not have more sympathy for them? We all know and understand crushing disappointment a lot better than we know top-of-your-industry triumph.

Kimmel's vamping was kind of lame, but what the hell do you expect? He's Jimmy Kimmel. Even with writers he kinda sucks. Of course he's going to say the wrong thing when he's forced to imrpov jokes in the middle of a full-on stage panic.
 
The article was a response to the frustration that even in the historic moment of Moonlight winning, it now has to share that moment with LLL, and instead of commenting and recognizing the historic achievement, (white) people focused on the humility and graciousness of that particular producer from LLL. Nobody, not even the article, is presuming a conspiracy.

Maybe if you all took the time to actually engage the concerns of black people instead of just accusing us of bitching and moaning, people wouldn't have to write articles about this. But clearly, a lot of you are just sick and tired of hearing about us poor negro folk complaining even though "we won".

Those damn white people, not a one of them has even mentioned Moonlight in the aftermath of the event, they're all to busy singing "City of Stars" to recognize how awful the situation is.

Fact: Every person who has said the situation is regrettable rather than mindlessly heaping praise on the La La Land cast and crew is black, including Warren Beatty.
 

KHarvey16

Member
To you maybe. To a lot of us it fucking matters.

It doesn't seem like it matters that much if you're willing to distort unfortunate but ultimately innocent events into a malicious perpetuation of bigotry. No one here is arguing anything with the intent of downplaying or ignoring the deep institutionalized racism problem in the US.
 

Deepwater

Member
Man, what a way to immediately shut down the discussion, to immediately accuse people who may not agree with you "white people tired hearing about negro folk." :/

Those damn white people, not a one of them has even mentioned Moonlight in the aftermath of the event, they're all to busy singing "City of Stars" to recognize how awful the situation is.

Fact: Every person who has said the situation is regrettable rather than mindlessly heaping praise on the La La Land cast and crew is black, including Warren Beatty.

Yes because this thread of casual dismissal of the issues brought up have nothing to do with the institutional racism brought up by the article.

Black People: "Hey the way this thing was handled plays into institutional racism"
Yall: "Don't be so fucking stupid, it was just a mistake, get over it you whiny bitches"

That's literally how this thread just played out on the first 3 pages.
 

Arc

Member
Lol this is why gen z hate us. We just accused them of racism, homophobia, bigotry all because some guy got distracted by Emma stone and gave the presenters the wrong envelope.

They weren't robbed of anything. They got their fucking award right on the stage. Why do people care so much about the optics. Stop bitching and look at what happened. They corrected their mistake and admitted they Fucked up.

Yes it wasn't perfect but nothing in life is perfect. Shit happens. Stop moaning about what's fair and move the Fuck on.

All of this.

This is the reachiest reach thread in some time here.
 

Kinyou

Member
Yes because this thread of casual dismissal of the issues brought up have nothing to do with the institutional racism brought up by the article.

Black People: "Hey the way this thing was handled plays into institutional racism"
Yall: "Don't be so fucking stupid, it was just a mistake, get over it you whiny bitches"

That's literally how this thread just played out on the first 3 pages.
So the only appropriate reaction is to agree with the article?
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
Maybe your right, but I intrepreted that reaction as disgust and discomfort. I doubt the reaction would be that mixed if it were between a man and woman.

Maybe I'm wrong, but that's just vibe I got only because it's too familiar to me in my real world experiences, unfortunately.

I really don't think that room would be homophobic, I mean, they're the people who gave Moonlight best picture.
 
All of this.

This is the reachiest reach thread in some time here.
Such a shit attitude. "Quit bitching that it wasn't perfect they still got it didn't they?" Yes. And nobody was talking about them winning. The narrative is about the fuck up. Not them, they are simply a byproduct of the stupid shit that ensued.

God forbid people express their indignation about something without being told to quit bitching and be silent it's not that bad
 
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