Hollywood’s Fading Glory Echoes at This Year’s Oscars

The Oscars ceremony on Sunday night felt tedious and prolonged, a sentiment consistent with recent years. Yet, this year’s lackluster experience struck a different chord. The waning clout of Hollywood was most evident last month when an unusually high number of American nominees flocked to London for the BAFTAs—an occurrence less frequent in more robust times. This diminishing significance lent the ceremony a low-stakes aura that was somewhat refreshing amidst the relentless news cycle. Despite this, the lingering curiosity remains as to why actors and presenters generally, and thankfully in my view, refrained from mentioning Donald Trump.

In light of the destructive wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles in January, it would have been a mark of good taste to cancel or at the very least significantly downscale the Oscars this year. However, predictably, no one involved was going to support such a move. Instead, viewers witnessed a subdued celebration of films with historically meager box office returns, such as The Brutalist, featuring Adrien Brody reenacting the U.S. postwar construction period, and Anora, one of the lowest-performing Best Picture nominees of all time, which tells the tale of an exotic dancer’s marriage to a wealthy Russian.

Back in 2017, following Trump’s presidential debut, the Oscars were ablaze with impassioned speeches. This year, however, they were conspicuously absent—save for a witty Anora-themed quip from host Conan O’Brien about Americans being “excited to see someone finally challenge a powerful Russian.” The underlying conclusion is that in Hollywood, as elsewhere, there’s a sense of fear. This fear isn’t solely rooted in the vindictiveness of Trump but also in the broad unpredictability of the current global landscape. As a result, many find that judicious silence can be more prudent than eloquence.