The most fearful Oscars and the shadow of you-know-who

To the saga of Harry PotterMost characters avoid pronouncing Lord Voldemort's name due to a deep fear associated with his power and his reign of terror. They use euphemisms such as "You know who", the "you know who", or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." At the 98th Academy Awards, Donald Trump became the Lord Voldemort of cinema. Everyone was aware of him, alluding to him through subtle jokes, but never, ever, was his name uttered. At the opening, host Conan O'Brien seemed to justify the celebration in such a turbulent and violent time: "We celebrate, not because we think everything is going so well, but because we hope everything will get better." Alluding to Trump's penchant for renaming buildings after himself, he remarked that the Dolby Theatre, which housed the awards, could end up being called "The I Have a Small Penis Theatre." Jimmy Kimmel, the host who was temporarily removed from his job, commented on the incident. late night For making jokes about Trump, he referenced the lack of freedom of expression when awarding the prize for best documentaries. "There are many countries where their leaders don't respect freedom of expression, for example, North Korea and CBS," he said, pointing to Trump's obvious pressure and the tensions with the major television networks. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" hovered over the ceremony like an energy that transformed with pacifist demands and messages in favor of multiculturalism.

What was more explicit was another concern related to the crisis in the film industry. It was the common thread running through much of O'Brien's appearance and that of the professionals presenting the awards. Right from the start, the host welcomed the CEO of Netflix, seated in the audience, stating that it was the first time he had ever been in a movie theater. It was a way of highlighting the decline in moviegoers. Reference was also made to platform mergers, YouTube as a hostile space for film consumption, creation through artificial intelligence, mobile phones as a new screen that degrades the image, the loss of audience attention spans with consequences for repetitive scripts, and, of course, the absurd strategies for attracting young audiences. O'Brien even commented that he would be the last human host of the ceremony. Another noteworthy moment was thein memoriamGiven the carnage surrounding major film figures in the past year, the format was modified to emphasize the most iconic stars. A special tribute was paid to Rob and Michelle Reiner, vilified by Trump after being murdered by their son. It also seemed a way of making amends for the presidential insult. Another reaction to "you know who." A fearful ceremony that speaks volumes about the times we live in, both because of the political context and the alarming cultural decline that no one seems able to stop.