‘Nearly an Afterthought’: Oscar Viewers Blast ‘Bizarre,’ Fast-Paced In Memoriam Segment for Leaving Out Several Big Stars
Viewers of the 93rd Academy Awards were less than thrilled by the ceremony’s “In Memoriam” segment this year, which came under criticism for its fast pace and the omission of several stars.
The segment was played to the upbeat Stevie Wonders song As, with each tribute only lasting around two seconds.
In addition to the fast pace, the ceremony missed a few major deaths, including Naya Rivera, Jessica Walter, Broadway star Nick Cordero, and songwriter Adam Schlesinger — who was nominated for an Oscar in 1997 for writing That Thing You Do!
Rivera, best known for her role as Santana Lopez on Glee, also appeared in the 2017 comedy Mad Families. The star passed away last July in an accidental drowning in Lake Piru, California.
Emmy winner Jessica Walter recently passed away at 80-years-old on March 24, while Schlesinger and Cordero both died of Covid-19 in 2020.
Angela Bassett introduced the segment on Sunday night, saying that, “In 2020, we were united by loss.”
“As of April 25, 2021, there were recorded over 3 million souls lost around the world to Covid alone,” she added. “Considering the enormity of our collective loss, and the often incomprehensible times we’re living through, we wish to also acknowledge those precious lives lost to the violence of inequality, injustice, hatred, racism, and poverty.”
The segment honored late stars including, Cicely Tyson, Irrfan Khan, Chadwick Boseman, Dame Diana Rigg, Christopher Plummer, Helen McCrory, and DMX — yet viewers were more focused on those who were missing:
Adam Schlesinger was nominated for an Oscar for writing “That Thing You Do!” in 1997. I don’t know why he wasn’t in the official In Memoriam segment tonight (especially because he wrote one of the greatest film songs of all time) so I’m honoring him here. #AdamSchlesinger
— Rachel Bloom (@Racheldoesstuff) April 26, 2021
Steven soderbergh said “a lot of people died this year we’re doing the in memoriam at 1.5x speed”
— Emily Palmer Heller (@emilypheller) April 26, 2021
This year’s Oscars In Memoriam played accidentally at podcast 1.5x speed
— Christopher Miller (@chrizmillr) April 26, 2021
What an absolutely bizarre way to do the In Memoriam. You literally couldn’t even read a lot of those names before they were gone. Maybe we could have cut 30 seconds from trivia? #Oscars
— Linda Holmes Thinks You’re Doing Great (@lindaholmes) April 26, 2021
Rushing through the in memoriam is bizarre. What on earth???
— roxane gay (@rgay) April 26, 2021
Man, even the In Memoriam was a huge tonal miss tonight. “3 million people died during a pandemic this year…so here’s a weirdly upbeat song while we click through the slides faster than usual.”
— Matt Ford (@fordm) April 26, 2021
Going from Glenn Close doing da butt to the In Memoriam pic.twitter.com/FORAQzYE3Y
— Carrie Courogen (@carriecourogen) April 26, 2021
Me realizing the In Memoriam segment excluded both Jessica Walter and Adam Schlesinger pic.twitter.com/xA2zwqN969
— andi zeisler (@andizeisler) April 26, 2021
Wow, what a massively bad idea. And this overshadows the fact that both Anthony Hopkins and Chadwick Boseman were brilliant and one of them had to win. The spotlight is now shining solely on the producers. Huge mistake. From In Memoriam on, this show was a disaster.
— Dan Murrell (@MurrellDan) April 26, 2021
Note for future In Memoriam segment producers: The pacing should not be at a speed that you can pedal to. #Oscars
— Wendi Aarons (@WendiAarons) April 26, 2021
It’s a miraculously confounding decision. I nearly wanted to cry at how utterly shocking, dumb, and embarrassing it was, especially after — in a year of so much loss — the In Memoriam segment was nearly an afterthought.
— Travis Clark (@TravClark2) April 26, 2021
they left adam schlesinger of fountains of wayne who died last year from covid, and wrote That Thing You Do, one of the best, most beloved songs in modern cinema out of the oscars in memoriam. im forging a pitchfork out of molten steel rn
— hyper relevisation (@Eve6) April 26, 2021
There is always a huge whiff in the In Memoriam segment, and this was last night’s. Very grateful to Rachel for calling it out. https://t.co/qabUk4yeJx
— Noah Gittell (@noahgittell) April 26, 2021
Watch above, via ABC.
