I’m going to preface this article with a line you’ve probably read before looking something like: I don’t usually post about politics on social media but blah blah blah… and while I’ll openly admit to anyone that I am not a fan of President Donald Trump, I also don’t have the energy to obsess over him and slander him daily. I’ve come to the slightest of terms with it, and in no way am I trying to mount my extreme left-wing, fake-news high horse, but I do have a few things to say regarding the Academy Awards' best picture results and its allegorical context.

If you haven’t heard by now, “Moonlight”—shockingly—beat the seemingly unstoppable, front-running “La La Land” after Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway shared a “senior moment” of sorts, miscalling the winner for best picture on live television. So the “La La Land” cast and crew took the stage, only to be stripped of their shiny awards. After stage-hands whispered the devastating news, producer Jordan Horowitz announced that Moonlight, the underdog, had actually won.

Now look, I loved “La La Land” and thought it was a deserving contender for best picture, not to mention, I really didn’t think it could lose. And how could it? It’s a magnificent musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling who are both great, it’s uplifting and uncompromising, it’s beautifully shot, written and directed, and it just felt like it was made to win that best picture award.

But when is the last time a movie dedicated to the black LGBTQ community had even a remote chance? I digress though, because the Oscars did have a great deal of diversity before the final category, and I’m not advocating for automatically handing the award to the movie with the most significant social context and the most controversial subject matter. “Moonlight” is simply the better movie and it deserved to win. Like the way the Casey Affleck deserved to beat Denzel Washington. Despite race and the sexual assault accusations against Affleck, he was simply better than Washington.

“La La Land” is in no way racist or white-washed, but when you strip away all the “fluff,” it is indeed a film with two lovely white people parading the streets, in love with life—something we’ve seen a little too much of. By awarding that movie, and snuffing "Moonlight," which was critically acclaimed and hailed by practically everyone as the best film of the year (with a 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 99 percent on Metacritic), the Academy would essentially be saying “sorry colored and gay people alike, but straight white people win again!” And thank God that they didn’t. To some, it might look like I’m bragging about how politically correct I am, but what I’m trying to say is that “Moonlight” represents a seriously important message, and it just so happens to be the better film, according to almost all critics. So, the fact that “La La Land” was posed to win without a doubt says SOMETHING kind of wrong, doesn’t it?

Flashback to the awards show: The “La La Land” cast and crew believes they’ve won, but then Barry Jenkins and his extraordinary cast (including the great Mahershala Ali) pushes them off stage, dethroning the awards beast. Let me just say, no film’s passionate and dedicated crew deserves what happened last night, and they handled it as graciously as they could. Alternatively, it was a sweet, sweet victory for the "Moonlight" team, and all the people who wanted the low-budget masterpiece to pull through.

“La La Land” was great, but it was the safe and obvious choice, whereas “Moonlight” really pushed for something beyond being just a good movie. It represented those whose voices have been drowned out by the shouting victories of their opposition. It represented the struggling LGBTQ community and affirmed a commitment to accepting them. It shed light to poor, drug-ridden, black communities that feel neglected by the rich, white, elitists who have no intentions of serving them. White people have enough movies to represent them, and enough Oscars to fill the Titanic. The fact is, there’s never been a film quite like “Moonlight.” To call it unique is an understatement—it’s a conscious movie with a lot to say, without ever really saying it, and if you haven’t seen it—or “La La Land” for that matter—do so immediately.

It’s socially aware, it encompassed the under-represented, it was the underdog, it was just an incredible movie—and for these reasons, I’m glad it won, but also, these are reasons why it had to.