Did you notice anything different about the Oscars?
Perhaps it was the nominations, which, included many more people of color than previous years had. Perhaps it was who won the nominations, including "Black Panther's" historic wins. (It has gathered the most Oscar wins for a Superhero movie to date). Or maybe it was the wonderful ball gown Billy Porter wore or the Marvel movie that won Best Animated Movie.
This is the second year of the new academy's reign over no wins and this is clearly a different year than previous years. Social progress is beginning to show. It is in the nominations at least.
"Black Panther" has the honor of being the first superhero movie to get a nomination for Best Picture. And the first black woman to ever win Best Costume Design won for "Black Panther," and the first black women to be nominated or win for best production design. This is amazing and a sign of change in two ways.
First, superhero movies do not often receive Oscar nominations in general. When they do, they are most often visual effects or sound editing. The exception is Heath Ledger's supporting actor win, which he won after his death. Since "Black Panther" and "Into the Spiderverse" both won rather prestigious awards in multiple categories. And in both cases, the films were lead by black protagonists, another wave of progression after the deluge of white protagonists. Different stories are taking the stage and being praised, and people of color and women of color especially are being lauded for the work they do on movies, which often goes unrecognized. For years, film and the Oscars have been a boy's club.
While there was backlash over the Best Picture Winner and Billy Porter's dress, it is a clear sign that the times are changing despite the opposite being true in political circles. Whether or not you are a fan of the break in tradition in the Oscars, it's clear that with the new academy times are changing.
An argument could be made that the social progress is false, favoritism to make up for the recent years where diversity failed at the Oscars.
Regardless of how or why the social change here at the Oscar's this year is remarkable. Billy Porter's dress is a break in the masculine tradition and many historic wins were made, both with golden trophies and without.
