Culture writer Ela Jain comments on how the 98th Academy Awards deliberately avoided politics despite the ideologies of its films.
The 2026 Oscars were defined by the toe-to-toe competition between the top two contenders for Best Picture: critics’ darling One Battle After Another versus audience favorite Sinners. The thrill of the game was what kept this year’s Oscars interesting in an otherwise extremely safe and inefficacious ceremony.
Conan O’Brien hosted for the second time, and his experience paid off in his confidence. His sharp wit was welcome, though some of the more low-risk jokes were feeble at best. Conan’s commentary on the Epstein files (“[This year] there are no British actors nominated…British spokesperson said, “at least we arrest our pedophiles”) was shocking, drawing gasps from the audience, but was also an appreciated witticism during an Oscars that otherwise felt especially wholesome. Conan has always presented himself as an “everyman” comedian, and even while at Hollywood’s most exclusive event, he managed to stay humble, cutting, and funny. His hosting was overall a treat.
A few historic moments in filmmaking were celebrated that night. The first ever Oscar for casting was given to Cassandra Kulukundis for her work on One Battle After Another, and Autumn Arkapaw became the first woman to win an Oscar in cinematography. The celebration of women’s work in film was especially noted, as Arkapaw shared a beautiful moment with the women in the audience, asking them to stand to represent the support she feels in her journey.
The Oscars also had its seventh tie in its 97 year long history, as “The Singers” and “Two People Exchanging Saliva” tied for Best Live Action Short Film. With this record emerged one of the few bumps during an otherwise extremely smooth show; presenter Kumail Nanjiani seemed flustered announcing the tie, saying, “everyone calm down, we’re going to get through this.”
When the second batch of winners were in the middle of delivering their speech, abruptly their mics were cut off and the camera cut away from them to Conan O’Brien, who stood on the side, looking embarrassed. The show recovered, and Alexandre Singh was able to continue his speech, commemorating the impressive cultural diversity within his creative team. It made the part in Conan’s opening monologue where he celebrated the amount of countries represented at the Oscars especially ironic, given that Singh was literally silenced when speaking about multiculturalism.
The awards themselves were nothing too surprising. Sinners and One Battle After Another as frontrunners was exciting, but by the time Best Casting had been awarded to One Battle After Another, a category majority predicted would go to Sinners, it became clear that One Battle After Another was going to sweep. In the end, they both came out pretty well, Sinners with four awards and One Battle After Another with six, eking out Best Director and Best Picture. This result was not unexpected and was somewhat overdue; the Academy likes to award long-standing directors and Paul Thomas Anderson has been in the business for over 30 years now. Even Anderson acknowledged how owed it was, saying “you make a guy work hard for one of these!”
The Best Actor category was the only one that felt truly nail-biting, as it felt like any of the nominees, bar Leonardo DiCaprio, could take it. Michael B. Jordan deservedly ended up winning, particularly important because it illustrated the Academy’s acknowledgement of Sinners as a project and cultural moment. Jordan’s speech was one of the best of the night, as he shouted out the Black actors that had paved the way for him, as well as the audiences who had made Sinners the unexpected smash-hit that it is.
What made the Oscars feel strange this year was just how apolitical it was. Just as art is political, so are the Oscars, and it is not new for winners to highlight themes of their work in their acceptance speeches. In 1978, Vanessa Redgrave spoke against Zionism when winning Best Supporting Actress. In 2009, Sean Penn advocated for gay rights when winning Best Actor for his work in Milk (Sean Penn won for Best Supporting Actor this year, but did not attend the ceremony). Conan O’Brien referenced this commonality in his opening monologue, saying “I’m warning you, tonight could get political.” However, this year’s Oscars have been remarkably toothless.
It’s especially interesting when noting how overtly political the films nominated were. One Battle After Another is a film embroiled in the Black American struggle, but nowhere was that struggle acknowledged in Paul Thomas Anderson’s three separate Oscar speeches. He vaguely references the “housekeeping mess” of the world, but nowhere does he specifically advocate for anything at all. He’s not the only apolitical winner of the night, but it feels especially apparent because of the themes he himself wrote into One Battle After Another.
It’s a hollow reflection on the Academy at large, that honors the work about the flaws baked into the American system but makes no effort to correct it. Hollywood has realized that the public is concerned about the rising state of fascism in the US, and wants film to reflect that state of mind. However, the industry has learned to separate aesthetic politics from actual politics; letting the art speak for itself while sitting comfortably on the laurels it acquires.
Contrast Paul Thomas Anderson’s speech with David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin’s speech when winning Best Documentary Feature Film for Mr. Nobody Against Putin; Borenstein opens by saying “Mr. Nobody Against Putin is about how you lose your country. You lose it through countless, small, little, acts of complicity.” Talankin finishes the speech by saying, “stop all of these wars, now.” This speech is not only important for its message, but conveys a larger essence to a room full of artists who are, themselves, being complicit.
The 2026 Oscars were about valuing film; awarding hard-earned directors, celebrating the talents of underappreciated roles, highlighting diverse casts and multicultural creative teams. Conan O’Brien says in his monologue, “let us celebrate not because we think all is well, but because we work and hope for better.” But is that really all the Oscars can do?
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