On April 25th, the 2021 Oscars were finally held. Despite everything going on in the world, there was some normalcy to the ceremony. It was also one of the best years for winners of racial diversity, of gender diversity, and of age diversity. However, the show was not without criticism. Some of these were criticisms of stylistic choices, and of course some criticisms of winners. The biggest snub of all though, that got everyone talking, was a lack of win or real memorial for the late Chadwick Boseman.
After a four-year battle with colon cancer that was unknown to the public, Boseman passed away on August 28, 2020. He was only 43 years old. His loss was felt by everyone, and there were many tributes made by fans, friends, and many of his co-stars and co-workers. Part of why his death was so striking to so many people was that he had spent so much of his career playing icons to the Black community. On top of roles as real-life icons like his breakout of Jackie Robinson in 42 and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in Marshall, his most famous role was of course T'Challa/Black Panther in the record-breaking Black Panther film. Black Panther in particular was so important to so many people because of the barriers it broke, so losing him felt like losing a real-life hero.
His final on-screen performance was in Netflix's film adaptation of August Wilson's play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. It's essentially a dramatized version of an intense recording session with classic blues singer Ma Rainey in 1927 Chicago. The film released on the platform at the end of 2020 and was met with a lot of critical acclaim, especially for its acting. Viola Davis, who portrays Ma Rainey, and Boseman were both nominated for nearly every acting award this awards season, including the Oscars. Boseman won the majority of his nominations and was the big prediction for this year's Oscars. However, fans were left a bit confused when it ended up going to Sir Anthony Hopkins for his role in The Father. On top of that, fans felt hurt when there was little to no tribute to Chadwick Boseman at the ceremony in general.
The Oscars very often give out awards to controversial winners, so his loss of the Best Actor category, in general, wasn't a huge surprise and shouldn't be the focus of the criticism. It is not uncommon for the Academy to award posthumous Oscars to people who have died, both because they deserve it and out of respect, but it's not necessary and the show should be fair. Where the Oscars did fail was in the structure of their show and how it was marketed. In a lot of ways, it kind of felt like they were bringing in viewers who were interested in seeing Chadwick Boseman honored because his death was such a shock, so fresh, and he was nominated. Instead, he was hardly mentioned in the show. They did include an NFT tribute design of him in their gift bag this year, but this was criticized by many for being exploitative before the show even aired.
That NFT design, and a very brief photo tribute during the show's "In Memoriam" portion, ended up being the only tributes to him throughout the ceremony. Many celebrities passed away in 2020, it was a horrible year for losses in general, so it's not unheard of that there wouldn't be anything special for Boseman. But this situation was different from those of other people. He was a nominee. And there were multiple moments of the show where it felt like a tribute was coming.
The first was the aforementioned "In Memoriam" segment. To introduce the segment, out came Angela Bassett. Bassett is an amazing and celebrated actress in many roles, but she also plays the role of T'Challa's mother in Black Panther. When Chadwick Boseman died, the statement she released in tribute of him was also very heartfelt and beautiful, so it's clear that they were close. People definitely believed that she would honor him in that segment, but it passed and there was nothing save for his photo briefly shown during the "In Memoriam" song.
The main thing that got people talking, was how the Oscars seemed to fully rearrange their show to end on his award, and then they didn't give it to him. Usually, the show would end on Best Picture, which is the biggest award of the night. Instead, the 2021 show ended on Best Actor, the category Chadwick Boseman was predicted to win. Though it of course wasn't confirmed, it seemed like they had arranged it so he would be announced as winner and then either his wife would come accept the award on his behalf or there would be some kind of tribute. That's of course not how it happened. Sir Anthony Hopkins was announced as winner, and he wasn't even there to give a speech, so the show very suddenly ended.
The shade is of course not directed at Sir Anthony Hopkins, and Boseman's family has said that they don't feel snubbed by the series. However, fans still feel disrespected. The Oscars are adamant that no one knows who the winners are, so this was likely just a massive mistake. Their choice to rearrange could have had nothing to do with Boseman, but that seems unlikely. It is however entirely possible that they were so certain he would win that they just assumed it would be fine and someone would accept the Oscar on his behalf. Either way, it's a huge oversight. People felt slighted and they were right to. To plan nothing solid that serves as a real tribute to one of the most devastating celebrity losses of the year, when he was nominated, was disrespectful to everyone he meant something to.