All GIFS by Marisa Gertz
The 88th annual Academy Awards have come and gone. Leo finally got his Oscar, Mad Max took home a bunch, and some Los Angeles Girl Scouts made more money in cookie sales than most of us do all year.
In an era when most televised award shows are awkward as hell, the 2016 Oscars took it to a new level of hot-take launching weirdness, from the usual mindless presenter banter to constant reminders from the Academy, which often took the form of “yes, we’re aware we have a race problem—here’s a joke about it.” If you missed the show, don’t worry—here’s a little round-up of all the big moments of the night, in GIF form.
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Chris Rock made a pretty big deal about the lack of African-American nominees.
“You realize if they would’ve nominated hosts, I wouldn’t have gotten this job,” he joked.
A few minutes later, he called Hollywood out for its inability to recognize its own internal bias.
So he took to the streets to create his own “Black Oscars.”
Beyond Rock’s monologue, the night still managed to have some memorable moments. Here is a good reminder that Fifty Shades of Grey is an Oscar-nominated film.
Somebody sat around sweating in this bear costume all night just for one Revenant gag.
Sam Smith claimed to be the first openly gay man ever to win an Oscar.
Although, Radiohead’s SPECTRE theme was better.
Without a doubt, the Girl Scouts were the biggest winners of the night.
Girl Scout cookies are $4 a box, right?
On one of the evening’s rare serious notes, Lady Gaga and Joe Biden brought attention to the ongoing issue of campus sexual assault.
Lady Gaga performing “Til It Happens to You,” which she co-wrote with Diane Warren for the film The Hunting Ground.
But the awkwardness continued when Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G took to the stage to deliver yet another weird Asian joke. The first of the evening, delivered by Chris Rock featured three Asian kid accountants who were not only child laborers but also good at math. You couldn’t cram in any more stereotypes if you wanted to.
Yet, even though the evening dragged on later than most, we finally got what we had all been waiting for:
Iñárritu winning best director (again), and Leo winning for the most convincing portrayal of enjoying of a meal of raw bison entrails.
See you next year, folks!
