# Oscars 2017 thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905 "2017-02-27T01:12:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/241 "2017-02-28T16:56:14Z")
Seems like having two couriers with envelopes is a recipe for disaster. They should have one courier be the primary and the other be the backup. The envelopes would never be taken from the backup’s satchel, only the primary’s, barring extreme emergency (i.e., primary suddenly goes violently ill, etc) ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/242 "2017-02-28T17:05:23Z")
> [@SUZ\_MAC](#): > > I don’t think this has been mentioned yet, but after Warren looked at the card and then again inside the envelope he clearly leans back and looks around Faye looking for someone with a WT? look on his face. Then he throws Faye under the bus. 😃 I would describe it a little more charitably than that. He’s struggling to figure out what to say, the heat is on, he’s dragging it out by repeating “Best Picture…” etc., and she is assuming he is teasing and tantalizing everyone, saying “you’re awful” or something like that. So he shows it to her, like “okay, Ms. Impatient, what do \*you \*think this means?”. He didn’t make her just blurt out “La La Land”. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/243 "2017-02-28T17:05:37Z")
The reason for having two is so one can be on each side of the stage. Presenters can enter from either side, so they get handed an envelope by the courier on whichever side they’re starting from. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/244 "2017-02-28T17:14:56Z")
Yep, and they need to coordinate their envelopes carefully. PwC is wiping the egg off their faces. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/245 "2017-02-28T17:15:27Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Patricia Arquette is angry that her sister Alexis wasn’t mentioned, and she calls it a slight to the trans community. I feel bad for Ms. Arquette and her loss, and of course she would have want her sister memorialized, but the number of people who die every year who worked in the movie business at some point has to be AT LEAST a thousand. It’s a large industry, after all, that’s been around longer than most people live. The Oscar tribute to people who’ve died can;t show them all, it has to be at least somewhat choosy, and Alexis Arquette was near-unknown and wasn’t one of the 100 most important people in film to die in 2016 - I mean, she was in more movies than most people, but you’ve got to pick a certain number of people and she doesn’t make the cut by any rational analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/246 "2017-02-28T17:26:06Z")
The guy who handed the wrong envelope to Beatty was Brian Cullinan, a PWC accountant. I think this is the classic [photo](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/films/2017/02/28/JS122035555_REUTERS_File-Photo-Brian-Cullinan-L-and-Martha-Ruiz-of-PriceWaterHouseCoopers-PWC-confer-large_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqmrYhd9iz8-tCT1RG7MOvQF4upanjdzCkJ6Jq4VhnFEg.jpg)of the whole fiasco with Cullinan, Beatty and Headphone Guy (who is he?) all holding the envelope. We still haven’t been told why it took them so long to correct the mistake and then with so much confusion. Yes, I am looking at you Headphone Guy ! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/247 "2017-02-28T17:29:39Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > The reason for having two is so one can be on each side of the stage. Presenters can enter from either side, so they get handed an envelope by the courier on whichever side they’re starting from. And my understanding is that as soon as one envelope is given to the presenter, the other is immediately destroyed so that both sets are always running parallel and in synch. But with the ceremony almost over, this protocol lapsed because one side was distracted (photo, social media, etc.) and that’s all it took to throw things off the rails. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/248 "2017-02-28T18:13:53Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > And my understanding is that as soon as one envelope is given to the presenter, the other is immediately destroyed so that both sets are always running parallel and in synch. Ah, I see. > [@](#): > > But with the ceremony almost over, this protocol lapsed because one side was distracted (photo, social media, etc.) and that’s all it took to throw things off the rails. Yes, the guy was tweeting a photo of Emma Stone. Buh-bye! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/249 "2017-02-28T18:17:40Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > But with the ceremony almost over, this protocol lapsed because one side was distracted (photo, social media, etc.) and that’s all it took to throw things off the rails. And I’m surprised this hasn’t happened before, for however long there have been identical sets of envelopes backstage. Do we know how many years there’ve been identical envelopes? ETA: I’m sure that PWC guy (Brian Cullinan) isn’t the first to be star struck there. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/250 "2017-02-28T18:53:26Z")
Oh, here’s why. [Trump blames Oscar blunder on Hollywood elites who were ‘focused so hard on politics’](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/02/28/trump-blames-oscar-blunder-on-hollywood-elites-who-were-focused-so-hard-on-politics/?utm_term=.6fb695db780f). How on earth did we miss this reason? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/251 "2017-03-01T00:00:06Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > And I’m surprised this hasn’t happened before, for however long there have been identical sets of envelopes backstage. Do we know how many years there’ve been identical envelopes? ETA: I’m sure that PWC guy (Brian Cullinan) isn’t the first to be star struck there. Yeah, but he may have been first to have been well-paid to do ONE THING (make sure the envelopes are given out correctly), and to have failed to do that one thing. It’s clear from the video what Warren Beatty’s thought-process was: _he never looked at the front of the envelope_. From this it is clear that he assumed that he did have the Best Picture envelope, and that whoever put the cards in the envelopes had mistakenly grabbed the “La La Land (Best Actress)” card in place of the “La La Land (Best Picture)” card. In other words, Beatty knew that there had been a mistake—but he believed the mistake had to do with the _category_, rather than with the movie. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/252 "2017-03-01T00:05:53Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > In other words, Beatty knew that there had been a mistake—but he believed the mistake had to do with the _category_, rather than with the movie. And then Faye Dunaway is given the card, and is scanning it looking for the name of a picture (since she knows she’s doing Best Picture) and reads what she finds that fits that criteria. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/253 "2017-03-01T00:22:50Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > And then Faye Dunaway is given the card, and is scanning it looking for the name of a picture (since she knows she’s doing Best Picture) and reads what she finds that fits that criteria. Yes. If we must assume that future Price Waterhouse employees will similarly be busy tweeting and whatnot, making mistaken hand-outs of envelopes a continuing likelihood, then at the very least they should re-do the design of the cards to STRONGLY emphasize the category. Instead of having ‘Best Picture’ in tiny font at the bottom of the card, it should be in huge font, front and center (as in “BEST PICTURE: Moonlight” or such). ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/254 "2017-03-01T02:45:37Z")
I maintain that Beatty, in showing the card to Dunaway, did so not to hang her out to dry. I think it was more of a ‘look what the card says, what the hell?’ mmm ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/255 "2017-03-01T02:52:11Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I maintain that Beatty, in showing the card to Dunaway, did so not to hang her out to dry. > > I think it was more of a ‘look what the card says, what the hell?’ > mmm I can’t believe anyone could see it different. It’s how I saw it. He was not playing, he was flustered completely. He looked(very clearly) off stage. He showed her because he was like, “What…does it say Emma Stone?” She read the only movie name there was. I see both of them 100% innocent. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/256 "2017-03-01T04:56:34Z")
Just want to post these tidbits for posterity. Would have posted them immediately after the show, but didn’t for obvious reasons. Did anyone notice… – When Katherine Johnson and the **Hidden Figures** cast were leaving the stage, [Janelle Monae](http://cdn.yournextshoes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Janelle-Monae-Oscars-2017-Brian-Atwood-2.jpg)’s skirt got caught under Johnson’s chair wheel for a second? (Also, did anyone notice that that was, hands down, the best gown of the night? It was beyond fashion; that was art.) – When [Auli’i Cravalho](https://www.yahoo.com/news/moana-star-aulii-cravalho-confirms-oscars-bonking-incident-shows-off-bump-on-her-head-000539595.html) was singing the **Moana** song with the flag dancers doing their thing behind her, one of the flags bopped her in the head _and she didn’t miss a beat_? – The Rolex commercial early on, with all the movie clips of people wearing Rolexes, that included a clip of Bill Paxton in **Titanic**? Too late, I’ve discovered how to tell Bill Paxton from Bill Pullman: Paxton was the one with the voice. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/257 "2017-03-01T05:46:40Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Dude, lets face it. _Moonlight_ won because of the fact it ticked all of the Academy’s boxes for Very Important Social Message Film. This trend has been noticed. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HjE9Fl4zKNs/maxresdefault.jpg "Oscar Bait") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjE9Fl4zKNs) ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/258 "2017-03-01T08:37:10Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > well-paid to do ONE THING Does anyone know if this is true? If I was asked to guess, I’d have guessed that some longtime salaried employees are offered the honor of working the Academy Awards ceremony, that there’s no bonus in pay just the perks of getting a nice hotel room, expense account, fancy parties. Not that I doubt that they are well-paid, I just wouldn’t have assumed they’re paid anything on top of their regular salary. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/259 "2017-03-01T08:42:53Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Does anyone know if this is true? > > If I was asked to guess, I’d have guessed that some longtime salaried employees are offered the honor of working the Academy Awards ceremony, that there’s no bonus in pay just the perks of getting a nice hotel room, expense account, fancy parties. > > Not that I doubt that they are well-paid, I just wouldn’t have assumed they’re paid anything on top of their regular salary. Apparently both of them are partners in the firm. If it’s anything like being a partner at a law firm, it means they get paid (in the words of Patton Oswald) not just an \*obscene \*amount of money, but a _sacrilegious_ amount. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905/260 "2017-03-01T08:58:03Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I think the implication here that these people only won because they were black is really horrible. > > 1. Moonlight was a goddamn fantastic movie. In my opinion it won the award completely on merit. \*Moonlight, La-La Land, Hacksaw Ridge, \*etc. were “A” movies in terms of cinematography skill, etc… But there can only be one winner, and so if one movie pushes the social-issue, political-issue buttons that the Academy Award panelists/jury care about harder than the others, then it is likely to get that little extra boost to put it over the top, going from “A” to “A+” in the selection process. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oscars-2017-thread/780905.md?page=14)