The 93rd Academy Awards that honoured the best in cinema, concluded amid the pandemic, with some changes in the ceremony and some remarkable first-time wins. However, the Oscars, despite being the most prestigious award in the entertainment industry, don’t come without a few goof-ups or controversies.
This time, the award ceremony was hailed for its inclusivity, but it took a wrong turn when the telecast cut away from hearing-impaired actress Marlee Matlin, who was one of the presenters.
Matlin, 55, happens to be the only hearing-impaired performer to have won an acting Academy Award for Best Actress at the age of 21 for the 1986 film Children Of A Lesser God. She signed her speech with an interpreter on stage, however, the Oscar telecast cut away from her mid-speech, triggering netizens who accused the Academy of being “rude."
Take a look at some of the reactions:
Wow #oscars so rude to cut away from Marlee Matlin like that. Whose brilliant idea was that?— maximamastetson (@MaxiMamaStetson) April 26, 2021
Crip Camp losing was not surprising given that minutes before cameras cut away from a signing Marlee Matlin while she was mid sentence. Just another reminder of how the Academy devalues disabled voices. #CrippingTheRedCarpet #OscarsDISs— Jordan Berger (@JordanRBerger) April 26, 2021
When @MarleeMatlin signs, we want to see her. There’s technology called picture-in-picture, #Oscars, that would have enable that.— Dr. Sujana Chandrasekhar (@DrSujanaENT) April 26, 2021
Doesn’t make sense at all that, while Marlee Matlin presents an award in #ASL, they cut away from her entirely while she's speaking! Totally missing the point, #Oscars— Terri Ann Lankford (@TerriLankford) April 26, 2021
The Oscars cut away from Marlee Matlin as she was SIGNING so it was just her interpreter’s voice. They can show five different video feeds of nominees waiting to hear they lost for every single award but they cant stick Marlee Matlin in the corner for one minute. Mmkay.— peppermint tee ❄️ (@hollywillowvine) April 26, 2021
Matlin’s presence at the Oscars this year had another significance - one of the films nominated for the awards was Sound Of Metal, the story of a drummer losing his hearing.
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