The Oscars 2023 winners have been announced and Everything Everyone All at Once swept through the awards. It had 11 nominations and won seven. For me personally, I am glad, the movie, a sci-fi movie won (swept through) the Oscars. But there’s one win in particular that I feel is undeserved - The win for the Best Actress.
Michelle Yeoh is an amazing actress and I’ve seen her in many other movies before this. The talent is undeniable, but in this movie, I felt her acting was not up to par when it comes to Oscars standards.
But I liked the movie?
The movie is amazing. There’s no doubt about the storytelling or the direction - both of which deserve a thousand accolades. The basic concept of multiple universes all happening at the same time is so exciting and takes a much deeper meaning against a rather comedic backdrop.
The entire story revolves around a mother-daughter-father relationship. And right till the end, it is this relationship that supposedly defines nature and the survival of the entire universe. I love it when stories add an element of humanity and love to sci-fi instead of just being dependent on science and futuristic materialistic storylines. But whenever a story adds a different element - the basic one that defines our very existence - humanity and love, it elevates it to a whole new level.
I felt the same way for Passengers, Arrival, Lost, and a lot more. The humanity and love aspect of these storylines is what separates them and elevates them to a whole new level - ones that purely sci-fi stories are never able to achieve.
Behind the frontal storyline, Everything Everywhere All at Once also deals with another relationship. The parent-child relationship is exactly what hampers many Asian parents, especially in China and India. Parents are often clingy with their children, often holding them back and not letting them live their lives. Everything Everywhere all at Once ultimately ends with Evelyn letting Joe go but at the same time holding her back enough that she loves her family and gets tied to her roots. Ultimately, its the thought and intention that matter and that’s what this story portrays.
You were talking about the acting?
Yes, coming back to the award for the Best Actress at the Oscars. Michelle Yeoh’s character is amazing and her storyline is the reason why Evelyn is the centerpiece of the entire movie. But we’re talking about acting, and I felt like Yeoh has delivered many strong and more impactful performances in many other movies. This movie felt relatively underwhelming from her as an actress. It was more about the story and the direction that stole the show and it cast its amazing shadow on her acting.
Is there a reason why one movie always sweeps the Oscars? It ultimately comes down to a popularity contest. The voters, often don’t understand it’s never a Yes/ No situation. You can like the directing in one movie and the acting in another. You might hate the songs in a movie and yet you will like the movie overall.
Speaking of Songs, can we come back to one of India’s win at the Oscars - Nattu Nattu
While I am personally very happy for an Indian movie to win the best original track nomination at the Oscars, can we all agree Nattu Nattu is by far not the best song even within India? It’s one of the more very generic songs and yet once again we see the popularity of a movie casting its shadow on a nomination.
I haven’t seen RRR and from what I’ve heard, it’s a fantastic movie. But the song itself is very generic, very underwhelming. On more than one occasion, I’ve seen much better songs, maybe not more meaningful but better composed and more original than Nattu Nattu. When those songs weren’t even nominated for the Oscars, and this one wins, it really makes me question how the Oscars decide their votes and their victories. Something just doesn’t make sense.
Viewers - We need Viewers
The Oscars is an event in decline. There’s less interest in the event, even though it creates quite a hullaballoo - like slapping people on stage. However, the case for an increase in viewership comes from the East. The Academy needs more viewers to justify raising money or getting more investments and the only way to get the Eastern viewers interested is by giving them awards. It’s clear that the nature of the Academy voters needs to change if we are to have true representation.
Would multiple Indian voters have voted for Nattu Nattu as the best song? I may be wrong, but this song felt much more generic than most other songs from Bollywood. So I think it’s safe to assume, it would not have won.
It’s just a case of lack of cultural familiarity when it comes to Indian movies that allowed a song like Nattu Nattu to be voted as the best original soundtrack. Speaking of original, hasn’t Salman Khan done a dozen or so, similar songs as Nattu Nattu?
Here are two excellent quotes from Everything Everywhere all at once
Everyone is useless Alone
For now, it’s ok she’s a mess. We just be glad the universe gave her someone kind to help her through this mess.
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