And the Oscar goes … off the rails

As evidenced by the fine films nominated this year in various Academy Award categories, movies can be magical.

As evidenced by Sunday night's spectacle, the Oscars award show itself was anything but.

Giving Hollywood a new definition of a viral hit, actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock after the comic joked about Smith's wife's hair. Jada Pinkett Smith is affected by alopecia. A vulgar exchange ensued, muted for U.S. viewers of the show but picked up by international feeds.

While there's honor in defending a loved one, it's dishonorable to do it violently. Smith was unquestionably wrong, and the Academy, often so self-assured (even sanctimonious) about its values, was wrong to not address it in real time, instead allowing Smith to sit front and center until he won the award for best actor. In a tearful acceptance speech, he apologized to his fellow actors and the Academy, but not to Rock.

Afterward, the Academy, without mentioning Smith or Rock, initially tweeted that it "does not condone violence in any form." But it did, in real time, in front of the world. (By Monday afternoon, it issued a stronger statement condemning Smith and said it would "explore further actions and consequences.")

In his speech, Smith compared himself to the man he portrayed, Richard Williams, the father of tennis greats Venus and Serena. That's an unfair comparison — to Williams.

And it's also unfair that Smith overshadowed Williams instead of honoring him. But it wasn't the only moment when Sunday's Oscars lost its continuity.

Rock, for instance, barely referred to the category he was awarding — best documentary — opting for often cheap comic takes on stars instead of shining light on often obscured films.

It's not that Rock doesn't know about the challenges and rewards of documentary filmmaking — and viewing. After all, he produced one in 2009: "Good Hair," which was ironically about, among other things, public reaction to and acceptance of Black hairstyles.

But his encounter with Smith eclipsed the winner, "Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)." It's a documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, an extraordinary event then and in context now — given the constellation of Black and Latin musical stars — that was filmed but unaired because of race, while the mostly white Woodstock a few hundred miles, and a world, away in upstate New York became a hit film and a cultural touchstone.

"Summer of Soul" did get some summer viewership in its theatrical and streaming release. But shining more light on it and the other worthy nominees that explored consequential topics like refugees, capitalism and consumerism in China, a caste-based, all-women newspaper in India, and the Attica uprising, would have been a service to film visionaries and viewers alike.

These documentarians and all filmmakers would be the first to attest to how movies are made collaboratively, something the Academy used to recognize as well. But this year, in order to raise ratings, the Oscars lowered the profile of eight technical awards, filming them prior to the telecast and awkwardly inserting them into the show. It was insulting to the artists involved and to the moviegoers who increasingly go to the theater particularly because of their wizardry.

The three comic hosts and the Hollywood stars who did bits before handing out statues didn't outshine but eclipsed most winners. Included were some historic firsts: Jane Campion became the second consecutive woman to win best director and Troy Kotsur became the first deaf actor to win an Oscar. His touching best supporting actor acceptance speech included a dedication to his dad, who tragically lost his ability to sign after being paralyzed in an accident, that made even his translator get emotional. The focus on the deaf community continued when the film Kotsur starred in, "CODA," won a deserved best-picture award.

The movie, a heart-tugging take on the only hearing child of a deaf family, was also the first film fully released via streaming to win the top prize. But viewers may be the biggest winners, as they now have a better ability than ever to watch diverse and distinctive cinema, as well as popcorn movies that are great in their own right, like the Marvel franchise. All this should have been better celebrated at the Oscars.

And if it feels a need for a fight, Hollywood could have more effectively joined the one in Ukraine. After its actor-turned-president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had reportedly asked to appear in the telecast, which is seen internationally, the Academy declined, but did ask for a moment of silence. That was welcome, but the evening missed the opportunity to show Smith, and the world, what real honor looks like.