The Night of Quiet Controversies
The 90th Academy Awards unfolded in the shadow of giants. The #MeToo movement had erupted just months earlier, and the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag remained a powerful critique of the industry's blind spots. The mood was less celebratory, more self-conscious.
Against this backdrop, the nominations themselves felt like a battle for the soul of Hollywood. Visionary, culturally specific films like Jordan Peele's "Get Out" and Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird" were in the running for the top prize. Yet, the night’s big winner was "The Shape of Water," Guillermo del Toro’s beautifully crafted but arguably less confrontational fantasy about a woman and a fish-man. While a critical success, its victory was seen by many as the Academy’s retreat to familiar, allegorical territory in a year that demanded directness. The controversy wasn't a shouting match; it was a quiet, collective sigh from those who felt the industry’s most prestigious body had once again dodged the cultural conversation.
A Speech and a Membership Drive
The night's most electric moment came from Best Actress winner Frances McDormand. After asking every female nominee in the room to stand, she ended her speech with two words that sent Hollywood scrambling for their phones: "inclusion rider." This contractual provision, which compels productions to hire a diverse cast and crew, was a direct challenge to the industry's status quo. McDormand’s speech wasn’t just a moment; it was a mission statement that crystallized the evening’s underlying tension. Behind the scenes, the Academy was already undergoing a transformation. Spurred by the #OscarsSoWhite backlash from 2015 and 2016, the organization had launched a diversity initiative. But the 2018 ceremony and its reception acted as a powerful accelerant. Just a few months later, in June 2018, the Academy invited a record-breaking 928 new members, its largest class ever, with a clear focus on diversifying its ranks by gender, race, and nationality.
New Voters, New Winners
This influx of thousands of new members over the next few years—many of them younger, more international, and with different sensibilities than the traditional voting base—had a direct and observable impact. The Academy's membership, once a homogenous group of mostly older, white American men, was becoming a more global and representative body. This demographic shift is widely credited with paving the way for some of the most groundbreaking wins in Oscar history. Two years after the 2018 ceremony, Bong Joon Ho's South Korean thriller "Parasite" achieved the unthinkable, becoming the first-ever non-English language film to win Best Picture. Its win was a seismic event, shattering what director Bong called the "one-inch tall barrier of subtitles." It was a victory that simply would have been unimaginable with the pre-2018 Academy.
The Legacy of a Changed Academy
The trend continued. The win for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" in 2023, a multiverse-spanning, genre-bending film centered on a Chinese-American immigrant family, further cemented the new reality. The Academy was no longer rewarding the same kinds of films. The changes weren't just about taste; they were systemic. The Academy’s growing international bloc made global cinema a more powerful force. The younger members were more attuned to internet culture and films that broke traditional narrative molds. The increased diversity in the voting body led to a wider variety of stories being recognized. The controversies of 2018, from the Best Picture choice to McDormand's call to action, served as a catalyst. They highlighted a disconnect between the industry's highest honor and the world it was supposed to reflect, forcing the Academy to fast-track its evolution.
