(OSV News) — “Anora,” a film containing such graphic sexual content that it can arguably be categorized as pornographic, was honored as 2024’s Best Picture at the 97th annual Academy Awards ceremony March 2. The movie’s writer-director, Sean Baker, took home three other Oscars while Mikey Madison, who played the title role, won as Best Actress.
Mainstreaming exploitation
Madison’s character is a stripper and prostitute. In one of his acceptance speeches, Baker thanked — and offered his “deepest respect” to — “the sex worker community.”
Despite the widespread popularity of that modern euphemism, however, the milieu of those who sell their bodies, either willingly or — as is, presumably, far more often the case — under some degree of coercion, is anything but anodyne. Rather, it is both a forum for exploitation and a landscape of sin, degrading to mind and heart and imperilling to souls.
“Anora’s” visual grit comes accompanied, moreover, by a floodtide of vulgar language. In fact, there are well over 450 uses of the F-word alone included in Baker’s script.
Observers may thus reasonably wonder just how far a filmmaker can go and still receive an R rating from the Motion Picture Association. Since the NC-17 classification that replaced the much misused X is, even today, considered fatal to box office success, the question is a significant one.
Noteworthy Oscar moments
Oscar night was not, however, entirely given over to the pushing of moral boundaries. “Wicked” stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande teamed up for an opening duet that set an elegant tone for the proceedings and host Conan O’Brien subsequently kept spirits up with some genuinely enjoyable jokes and gags.
The runner-up to “Anora” for the most prizes claimed was the immigration-themed drama “The Brutalist.” Set in the aftermath of World War II and inspired by the lives of a few real-life craftsmen, writer-director Brady Corbet’s portrait of an uncompromising architect garnered the statuettes for Actor in a Leading Role (Adrien Brody), Cinematography and Original Score.
Rolling Stone fans were probably delighted when Mick Jagger put in an appearance to present the Oscar for Best Original Song. Devotees of Bob Dylan, on the other hand, were likely disappointed that he remained absent, despite the Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” being in competition for Best Picture, Best Lead Actor (Timothee Chalamet) and Best Supporting Actress.
On a more serious note, the event’s organizers paid tribute both to their fire-ravaged hometown and to the first responders who battled the devastating conflagrations. In fact, O’Brien offered the latter the chance to read some one-liners he pretended were too controversial for him to essay himself.
Hollywood’s big night is notorious for running overtime. But not this year — at least for viewers watching on Hulu. The period allotted for the ceremony having expired, the live streaming of it there came to an abrupt halt, even though a couple of the most important Oscars had yet to be presented.
Always leave them wanting more.
John Mulderig is media reviewer for OSV News. Follow him on Twitter @JohnMulderig1.
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