The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences needs to brace itself for possible protests during Sunday’s 2022 Oscars ceremony.
This year’s show has earned much controversy — from eliminating the presentation of eight of the 23 categories during the live broadcast to not requiring presenters and performers to show proof of COVID-19 vaccinations. Instead, they need to show two negative PCR tests on the day of the ceremony, according to TMZ.
But it seems not airing the makeup, hair, sound and other categories is a sticking point for Tinseltown.
Cinema Audio Society president Karol Urban confirmed Thursday that there is a game plan for guests to wear their guild badges upside down during Sunday’s show, according to Deadline.
Another part of the strategy will be for winners to flip their Oscars when they get on the stage to accept them during the ceremony.
“There is a multitude of different organizations that are working together to find ways to circumvent having their voices clipped,” said Urban, who leads the pack for representations of sound mixers.
She continued, “As the Oscars get closer, more and more craft people are showing solidarity. If there’s anything positive that comes out of this very terrible situation this year, it’s that we are becoming more solidified as the day comes closer.”
“We all had faith the Academy would be celebrating all filmmakers,” Urban said.
Insiders told the publication that the whisperings of protest began when members of the Hollywood sound section learned of the categories that the Oscars will not be showing during the telecast.
Sound, Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Original Score, Production Design and Documentary Short, Animated Short and Live Action Short are the categories that will be presented during the pre-show. These segments will then be edited and shown briefly in the final broadcast.
Urban said the pre-show inclusion “diminishes the category voices” since they know they will “be moderated and cut down and limited.”
“I find upsetting it’s not live in front of a full audience of peers,” she added. “We don’t get to hear that sound of applause of support from the entire community of equal filmmakers. That’s very heartbreaking.”
As for the protest, the idea is also spreading to other left-out categories beyond Sound nominees, which include the minds behind “Belfast,” “Dune,” “No Time To Die,” “The Power of the Dog” and “West Side Story.”
Another source revealed to Deadline, “It’s not an organized thing. It’s word of mouth. People are talking about wearing their Academy lapel pins upside down, and holding their Oscar statues upside down if they win one. Some will definitely go there, and some won’t. It’s spreading. It’s getting some currency.”
Two members of the Academy — four-time Oscar nominee Peter Kurland and Oscar-winning Martin Scorsese collaborator Tom Fleischman — have quit the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over the proposition, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
As for the COVID-19 worries, some A-listers are desperate to attend the awards show but are nervous about getting testing, TMZ reported on Friday.
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