Top 5 most uncomfortable moments of the 2020 Oscars

The Academy Awards show is where the Hollywood elite get to bask in their own glory and make themselves feel special. For audiences, it’s more fun to look at moments that have the opposite effect.

It’s hard to deny that the multitude of Hollywood award shows have become one big joke. Not only do they bleed viewers every year, but many of the people who do stick around mainly tune in to either admire the glitz and glamour or laugh at how ridiculous it all is. This makes it all the more awkward seeing the stars continually fight to hold your attention, and the 2020 Oscars ceremony was no different in this regard.

Whether it’s a bizarre speech, an embarrassing mistake, or a desperate gimmick, there seems to be no shortage of tricks that the entertainment industry pulls out at these events. When they backfire, it’s often so hysterical that it dominates audiences’ memory the next day. That being said, let’s look at some of the most uncomfortable moments that arose from this year’s Academy Awards.

5. Steve Martin & Chris Rock’s Opening Monologue

Ever since Kevin Hart forfeited the position a few years back, it seems that most celebrities are reluctant to host the Oscars for fear that something in their past will be dug up to defame them in the present. In essence, the stars of Hollywood were bitten in the butt by the very same Cancel Culture that they helped spread. So, seeing a randomly selected actor trot onstage and try in vain to play this off as a joke is about as awkward as you’d expect.

Even if you take that out of the equation, neither one of these comedic actors could save this. Not only did Martin and Rock have little to no chemistry, but it was painfully clear that they had nothing to work with. Most of their comments consisted of listing the best picture nominees and noting how great they were.

Considering this is essentially what the entire show amounts to, doing the exact same thing at the beginning is not funny or entertaining. It’s just lazy and redundant.

4. Opening Song

While the vocals and the movie-inspired backup dancers propped this segment up, Janelle Monáe’s musical segment song ultimately fell apart in the second half when she attempted to get the audience involved. At numerous points, she would point the microphone at the crowd and encourage them to sing along. Needless to say, not all of them shared her energy, with the room going oddly quiet due to only some of the people tentatively participating.

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Believe it or not, it got even worse when Monáe took a more individual approach. Singling out celebrities like Leo DiCaprio and Brie Larson, she persisted in her mission to bring the audience into the song. Predictably, they seemed confused and even annoyed at these efforts. This quickly killed any momentum that had been built up at that point.

To top it all off, Monáe and her crew dramatically plopped themselves down in the aisles, began dancing in people’s faces, and resorted to vocal gymnastics for the finale. It was as if they were trying to compensate for the lack of enthusiasm from the surrounding celebrities, but it just came off as completely overdone, ending the performance on a sour note.

3. Cats

I don’t think anyone expected James Corden and Rebel Wilson, stars of the recent Cats film, to present an award in full feline garb. Then again, these two have practically built their careers out of being deliberately weird and unappealing. Plus, showing a bit of self-awareness toward one of the most notorious filmic failures of recent memory sounds exciting on paper.

Unfortunately, the way they stiffly strolled onstage, their hands held up like animals, was off-putting on the level of a condescending children’s entertainer. It was made even worse when Wilson raised her leg and pretended to groom herself, and this was all before they even started speaking. Making things more unpleasant were their stilted deliveries, long pauses, and emphasis on “good visual effects.” Alright, we get it. Please get off the stage.

2. Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig’s “Dramatic” Audition

Like with many failed attempts at comedy, this gag simply went on for too long and was too over-the-top. The first bit consisted of the two comic actresses repeatedly stating that they were mad. Saying the same thing over and over again for thirty seconds does not a joke make.

After a few times, you wish that they would just get to the point. They eventually make you wish otherwise by yelling at each other in a cartoonish fashion. You then start to wonder if they’ve had too much to drink.

It turns out that it was all part of a tongue-in-cheek audition, as they make a point of informing all of the directors in the room that they’re not limited to comedy; they can also do drama. Maybe this sketch would have landed if they had not been so in-your-face and not explained the joke toward the end.

As it stands, Rudolph and Wiig’s fake rant never rises above being longwinded and grating. It was like watching someone, who thinks he’s/she’s great at impressions, crash and burn at an improv comedy club. Suffice it to say, Billie Eilish’s horrified expression could not have been more appropriate.

1. Political Grandstanding

Do you know why Ricky Gervais’s speech at the recent Golden Globes was so beloved? Aside from being hilarious, it finally echoed the irritation that millions of audiences felt, sticking it to all the celebrities who use their time in the spotlight to preach their personal politics to the rest of the world. Nevertheless, this year’s Academy Awards were peppered with various digs and even full-blown speeches involving the current global and political plights.

Most of Monáe’s backup dancers were African-American versions of movie characters, and her number ended with her proclaiming that she’s “proud to be a black, queer artist telling stories.” Martin and Rock dropped references to both the Iowa caucus and alleged racism of cops. Sigourney Weaver, Gal Gadot, and the aforementioned Larson introduced the show’s first female conductor by proposing a shirtless fight club.

The winners get deodorant and tequila; the losers have to answer questions about what it’s like to be a woman in Hollywood. Then, of course, we have Joaquin Phoenix’s random tangent about artificially inseminated cows.

These are just a few examples. At best, these instances come off as celebrities patting themselves on the back and getting brownie points for their progressive views. At worst, they look like out-of-touch Hollywood elites thumbing their noses at the rest of America for not believing in the “correct” politics.

Did you find these blunders as cringe-worthy as I did? What do you think are some of the most uncomfortable Oscar moments?

Speeches and songs from this year’s Academy Awards can be viewed on ABC’s official YouTube channel.