93rd Oscars Recap

Renca Dunn, Daily Moth Reporter: Last night was the 93rd Oscars awards ceremony. This is a recap focusing only on two movies: “The Sound of Metal” that had Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and a Coda (Child of Deaf Adults) involved with this movie and “Feeling Through” that had a DeafBlind actor in the film. Those two films were nominated for Oscars.

I will do a quick recap and share results of the two films. The Oscars ceremony was hosted in Los Angeles at two places: Los Angeles Union Station and the Dolby Theatre. There were also other places hosted, but virtually. There was no main host for the Oscars. It seemed that various actors shared the responsibilities of being hosts.

Now, first I will focus on the “Sound of Metal” results. The film was nominated for several categories: Best Picture, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Screenplay. Out of the 4 categories, “Sound of Metal” won two: Best Sound and Best Film Editing. The person who was the film editor’s name is Mikkel Nielsen. He went on stage to accept the award for the Best Film Editing. In his presentation, he thanked various people and Darius, who is the director of the film, and mentioned that he learned a lot. He recognized the Deaf community. He mentioned that he thanked the Deaf community for inviting him in. He has learned so much. He said that the Deaf community is such a rewarding and inspiring community. That’s what Mikkel said when he accepted the award for Best Film Editing.

Now, focusing on the actor part for “Sound of Metal.” Riz Ahmed, the main lead role for the film, who is hearing, and Paul Raci, a Coda, were nominated. Ahmed was nominated for the Best Actor award and Raci was nominated for Best Supporting Actor award. The result is that both did not win.

Moving to the short film “Feeling Through” that was nominated for Best Live Action award. The executive producer is Marlee Matlin and the DeafBlind leading role actor is Robert Tarango. The result is that the short film did not win.

That is the recap and result of the two films. Now, I am going to focus on the recap of the Oscars overall from what I noticed. Riz Ahmed, the leading role for the “Sound of Metal,” was also one of the hosts to present an award called “News of the World.” Right before Ahmed presented the award, he explained a little bit about himself and how he had to learn sign language for his role in the “Sound of Metal.” He said that it changed his life and sees how important communication is. He did at one point look sideways, which I am assuming that he was looking at the “Sound of Metal” people, and he smiled at them. After he did that, he looked back at the camera and continued talking as he presented the award.

I also noticed that Marlee Matlin was one of the hosts as well. She presented two awards: Best Short Documentary and Best Documentary Feature. The frame was fully on her and she signed both of the awards. Her interpreter was next to her, but not shown. She was the only one in the frame. That’s what I noticed.

The other thing that I observed is that 4 deaf people were at the Oscars. Shaheem Sanchez, a deaf dancer who was involved with the “Sound of Metal.” Jeremy Lee Stone, a deaf actor that was also in the “Sound of Metal” and the ASL teacher for Riz Ahmed. Marlee Matlin. Robert Tarango, the DeafBlind actor from “Feeling Through” was also there. It seems that each of them were seated at separate tables. There was an interpreter at each table with them.

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That’s what I noticed during the Oscars ceremony. It was not just that, but also during commercial break during the Oscars award ceremony, there was a Google commercial about a Coda. This man’s name is Tony Lee and he actually works at Google himself. He was featured and his deaf parents were in it as well. Here is a short clip of the commercial.

(Short clip of commercial, full link: https://youtu.be/pXc_w49fsmI)

We included a link for that commercial in this transcript. That is the full recap of what I noticed during the Oscars ceremony last night. Now, here are some of my personal thoughts. The four deaf people that attended the Oscars award ceremony, was that the largest group of deaf people to attend? I know there has been one or two that have gone to the Oscars, but four? The second thing is that when Marlee Matlin signed for two awards, was that the first time for signing it? I know when people accept awards, I have seen signing before, but for presenting an award in sign language at the Oscars- I wonder if that is the first time?

I did look at some Twitter conversations. I saw some discussion on recognizing that Hollywood has a long way to go for proper disability representation, but the discussion also mentioned that after all these years (93 years), last night was a step. It is a progress towards change. There were comments that mentioned wanting to see more of that (change).

So, did you watch the Oscars last night? What are your thoughts? "

GOOGLE CODA COMMERCIAL LINK: https://youtu.be/pXc_w49fsmI