As reported on Wired.
BY ANGELA WATERCUTTER
Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony was a little bit batty, but it made for great internet.
Jennifer Lawrence managed to fall down on her way to accepting her Best Actress Oscar, flip off the press corps and still win the night. Channing Tatum, despite not really being nominated for anything, did a dance with Charlize Theron and presented an award. An injured Kristen Stewart pimp-walked onto the stage at the Dolby Theater. Host Seth MacFarlane managed to offend pretty much everybody in one form or another.
And those weren’t even the biggest moments of Oscar night. Well, OK, maybe Lawrence falling up the steps was. But beyond that the most buzzed about, GIF-ed, blogged, and Tweeted moments were things like Sandra Bullock’s face while struggling with her envelope for Best Film Editing, William Shatner descending from the heavens as Captain Kirk to help save MacFarlane from himself (it kind of worked), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt photo-bombing the red carpet.
This is how we watch awards shows now. We care about who wins, but ultimately we’re watching because we’re waiting for internet gold – a celeb spill that becomes an instant GIF, a movie star’s body part that becomes its own Twitter account, a host that just says a lot of things that immediately polarize Twitter. Welcome to Oscars 2.0. (Or, probably Oscars 3.0 or something. We’ll figure it out.) It’s a place where the big news of the night is far less important than the awkward things that happen in between and are easy targets for the snack-sized commentary of the web.
To get a taste of what went down online during the Oscars last night, here are some of our favorite viral moments.
Above:
Jennifer Lawrence Fell Up Some Stairs, Continued Reign as Most GIF-Able Actress Alive
Jennifer Lawrence won an Oscar for Best Actress — confirming what the Web had known for a long time: she’s awesome. And not just because she’s talented beyond belief, because duh, but because she just does things that are endearingly awkward and then unapologetically follows them up with some serious wit. Following her win the press corps asked her about the fall, to which she immediately responded, “Was that on purpose? Absolutely.” Then joked that they waxed the stairs. When a second reporter asked what was going through her head, she retorted, “A bad word that I can’t say. That starts with ‘F.'” Slow clap.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Photobombed the Red Carpet
This needs no explanation. It happened, and it was awesome.
Sandra Bullock Comes in Close Second For Most GIF-Able Moment
Having a particularly hard time opening the envelope to reveal who won Best Film Editing, Sandra Bullock made this face. It’s priceless. Like that time she kissed Meryl Streep.
William Shatner Tried to Save Seth MacFarlane, With Limited Success
From the get-go, host Seth MacFarlane was kind of bombing — telling really awkward jokes that barely got a chuckle. Soon the audience learned it was all part of a gambit wherein William Shatner would beam in like Captain Kirk and try to straighten out MacFarlane’s act. It was a good meta joke, but ultimately it didn’t really save the opening number, which had highlights (Channing Tatum dancing with Charlize Theron) and lowlights (the rousing track “We Saw Your Boobs”). Maybe they should’ve tried some Shatoetry?
Ben Affleck Gave a Manic (and Awesome) Acceptance Speech
Is there anyone happier to win an Oscar than Ben Affleck? After his film got the Best Picture trophy, he went on a speedy, earnest acceptance speech in which he thanked his family; Canada; Iran; the CIA operative he played in the film, Tony Mendez; and pretty much everyone in the world. (No mention of Wired though, harrumph.) It was a giddy moment that led to at least a couple of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back-referencing, “Affleck, you da bomb in Phantoms, yo!” tweets.
Kristin Chenoweth Talked About How Short She Is. A Lot.
Broadway and television darling Kristin Chenoweth was a predictably perky red carpet interviewer. She also at some point realized how her small 4′ 11″ frame looked next to Oscar attendees, and made a lot of jokes about it. But at least it gave us this moment with Adele.
Kristen Stewart Did a Sort of Pimp Walk Onto the Stage
Kristen Stewart was injured for the Oscars. She was on crutches outside the Dolby Theater. But she managed to champ-up and walk on her injured foot when she took the Oscars stage to present with Daniel Radcliffe. The cool walk she did to the mic sufficed (see above), but naturally Twitter had other feelings. Mostly about the rest of her appearance. Like, for example, Sarah Silverman, who tweeted, “Is Kristen Stewart fundamentally against brushes?”
Seth MacFarlane Made a John Wilkes Booth Joke. It Kind of Didn’t Work
During the ceremony, host Seth MacFarlane made a joke about Abraham Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth being the only one to really get in the 16th president’s head. It didn’t get much of a laugh. But it did get this GIF.
Quentin Tarantino Ended His Acceptance Speech with ‘Peace Out’
While accepting his award for Best Original Screenplay for Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino — in a leather tie — declared that this would be the year of the writer. He then ended his speech with “peace out.” Thanks, bro.
Quvenzhané Wallis Does Double Fist-Pump, Becomes Coolest 9-Year-Old Ever
Beasts of the Southern Wild‘s Quvenzhané Wallis lost the Best Actress Oscar to Jennifer Lawrence. BUT this move that she did for the camera when her name was called won everything else. Even Jezebel called the GIF of the moment, the “only Oscar GIF you need.”