Welcome to the “Bisexual Oscars” hosted by the admittedly not-very-good roaster but still quite funny and nimble Aidy Bryant.
Natalie Portman and Christian Bale on working with Taika Waititi
Bryant brought the heat to the Film Independent Spirit Awards this afternoon, opening her monologue by sexually harassing Charles Melton, berating Natalie Portman, changing Sterling K. Brown’s name to “Stupid K. Bitch,” and declaring Greta Lee a “slob and a slut and a stupid—” well, you get it. In her defense, she knew or wanted to have sex with all the people she mocked during the monologue. As has been the case since Jo Koy’s Golden Globes monologue, Bryant leaned into how difficult hosting awards shows have been this year. Hence, she went full-on Def Comedy Jam on the beautiful celebrities.
More personally, she wanted to share her connection to independent film, which began when her high school boyfriend wouldn’t shut up about independent directors while they dry-humped as teenagers.
“I’m married now, so I learn less about cinema, but for many years, I was taught what a tracking shot is over and over by the boys who penetrated me,” she joked. “And like much of the sex in independent film, it was sad, harshly lit, and central to the development of my character.”
Despite her misgivings, the gig seemed like an easy one for much of the night. That was until about 45 minutes in when chants from pro-Palestinian protestors outside, calling for a free Gaza and a cease-fire in Palestine, bled into the ceremony. The near-constant reminder of the brutal war in Gaza that has killed 10s of thousands of Palestinians in the six months didn’t make things easier for winners or presenters.
Bryant, along with pretty much everyone else on stage—save for comedian Jimmy O. Yang, Fremont director Babak Jalali, and Unseen director Set Hernandez, who raised a keffiyeh upon winning The Truer Than Fiction Award—did their best to make it through without showing support one or the other. Of course, that had an adverse effect on winners and presenters discussing bravery and uplifting voices through their work as they did their best to ignore what was going on outside. It was kind of a disaster for everyone on stage but a real success for the protestors who made Israel’s War on Gaza the main character of the Film Independent Spirt Awards. We can’t help but wonder how the Academy Awards are going to handle this.