After LA fires, the Oscars decreed the show must go on. Here鈥檚 why.
Despite the obliteration of entire Los Angeles neighborhoods, the Academy Awards decided the show must go on. A tone-deaf response to a devastating disaster? The Oscars had already been facing criticisms for being out of touch. As one magazine writer put it, 鈥淲hile the press is seriously impressed by the awards and the industry makes a pretense of regarding them as important, they do not mean so much today as they once did.鈥�
Those words were written in 1938. That year, historic flooding wiped out bridges, roads, and farmlands in Los Angeles County. It killed over 100 people. The Oscars were delayed by a week. Yet, according to a recounting by , which included the comment above, the lavish awards banquet was a celebratory affair. There鈥檚 no historical record of anyone mentioning the floods in their acceptance speeches.
This year鈥檚 Oscars are also taking place soon after a Los Angeles cataclysm. But unlike the 1938 ceremony, these awards will be televised. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has pledged that its March 2 broadcast will showcase the of Los Angeles following wildfires that killed 29 people. The question is whether the Oscars can simultaneously indulge in its usual ostentatious glitz. It risks coming across as Hollywood royalty insulated in its own Versailles (with Dolby Sound). They don鈥檛 want to be caricatured as seeming out of touch 鈥� 鈥淟et them eat popcorn鈥� 鈥� while thousands remain displaced. However, if the ceremony focuses on its greater community beyond superficial platitudes, the Oscars could connect with everyday Americans in a way that it hasn鈥檛 in a while.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onHow do you calibrate an Oscars ceremony after a natural disaster? Other award shows are balancing the glitz with compassion 鈥� which is resonating at a time when Los Angeles is rebuilding.
鈥淭hinking about awards is very hard right now,鈥� says Debra Birnbaum, editor-in-chief of GoldDerby.com. 鈥淗ollywood is often accused of being self-congratulatory. But meanwhile, you鈥檙e talking about an industry town that鈥檚 decimated and heartbroken. ... Entire communities were wiped out.鈥�
Honoring first responders and Watch Duty
The lyrics of Bertolt Brecht鈥檚 鈥淗ollywood Elegies鈥� includes an oft-quoted observation about Los Angeles: 鈥淚t鈥檚 Hell, it鈥檚 Heaven: the amount you earn / Determines if you play the harp or burn.鈥�
The lines takes on a fresh resonance in the wake of January鈥檚 infernos. Those in the most exclusive 9012-something ZIP codes were mostly spared. Mostly. Malibu beachfront properties are now just a scorched seashore. Swatches of the Pacific Palisades, an affluent area, were razed. By contrast, Altadena was an attractive area prized for its affordability. The Eaton Fire wiped out 9,000 homes and buildings. Affected residents include Hollywood prop masters, dolly grip operators, and gaffers. In other words, the crew members whose names scroll through the end credits long after most moviegoers have exited the theater.
That鈥檚 why the first ceremony of the 2025 awards season tore up its script. American Cinematheque鈥檚 Tribute to the Crafts was cognizant that many of its honorees in fields such as choreography, cinematography, and costume lived in fire-ravaged areas. So, American Cinematheque pledged donations to the California Fire Foundation. It bestowed its Unsung Hero Award on John Mills, CEO of Watch Duty, an app that became a must-have tool for tracking the path of the wildfires. Mr. Mills invited firefighters to the Jan. 24 gala, as a reminder that Hollywood鈥檚 true heroes aren鈥檛 actors dangling from a harness in front of a green screen. As the first, the ceremony set a template for others to follow, says Pete Hammond, awards columnist for Deadline.
Sure enough, on Feb. 6 the CEO of the American Film Institute Awards paid tribute to firefighters. Actor Kristen Bell brought a first responder to the AFI Awards as her guest. (Ms. Bell was one of several celebrities who have been volunteering at donation centers.) At the Grammys, fire captains presented album of the year to Beyonc茅. The televised music ceremony also included a telethon that raised nearly $9 million. Plus, it set aside ad space for small businesses, such as a florist in Altadena and skateboard shop in the Palisades, that had been devastated by the wildfires. One reason ceremonies haven鈥檛 been cancelled is because they鈥檙e so important to caterers, limousine services, hotels, and numerous other local firms.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to destroy your economy more than ... already with these natural disasters,鈥� says Mr. Hammond. 鈥淪o the calmer heads prevailed and they said, 鈥楲et鈥檚 find a way to merge both.鈥欌��
The entertainment industry is making such a show of venerating non-celebrities that the Critics Choice Awards decided to forgo a televised red carpet show this year. Will the Oscars follow suit? In a normal year, Hollywood鈥檚 top echelon swan down the red carpet in Valentino, Versace, and Vera Wang. The glamour is the whole point. It鈥檚 about selling the Hollywood Dream. A big part of that is allowing winners to bask in the spotlight while they thank the Academy, their agent, and that fifth grade teacher who spotted their early promise. However, the Oscars mean far less than they did in 2008, let alone 1938. Younger generations are far more interested in TikTok creators who look like the person who lives next door.
鈥淚 can relate to that person,鈥� says entertainment business analyst Bob Lefsetz, author of the influential Lefsetz newsletter. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 relate to the person in the movies who won the genetic lottery. Incredibly good looking. They鈥檙e not that talented. ... They鈥檙e selling perfume.鈥�
Mr. Lefsetz adds that, in our Tower of Babel culture, movies are no longer a dominant medium. The vast majority of people haven鈥檛 seen this year鈥檚 10 best picture nominees apart from, perhaps, blockbusters 鈥淒une: Part Two鈥� and 鈥淲icked.鈥� Academy Awards viewership has declined from 43.7 million in 2014 to 19.5 million in 2024.
Hollywood may have ceded cultural share to video games and social media. But the wildfires afford the 97th Academy Awards an opportunity to step outside the velvet rope and display a common touch. It did so during the recent pandemic, when the Oscars radically downscaled for a subdued and socially distanced event. There are other precedents, too.
鈥淎fter Pearl Harbor, the Academy canceled the Oscar banquet because it seemed unseemly to have a glitzy banquet with America going to war,鈥� says Michael Schulman, author of 鈥淥scar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears.鈥� 鈥淭hen they un-canceled the banquet, but told people not to dress up too much. ... In the end it was a ceremony with Allied flags and Jimmy Stewart and other people in military uniform.鈥�
鈥淎n outpouring of love鈥�
Following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Oscars featured a first-time appearance at the ceremony by Woody Allen to introduce a montage of New York in the movies.
鈥淚 think maybe there鈥檒l be something similar like that this year about Los Angeles as a movie town,鈥� says Mr. Schulman, who is a writer for The New Yorker.
He doubts that the awards will highlight the numerous famous people whose homes burned down in the fire. Four of the 55 member Academy board of governors were also among those who lost homes, including the visual effects governor and animation branch governor. Host Conan O鈥橞rien has told interviewers that his writers are still gauging the mood of Los Angeles. They don鈥檛 want to come across as too flippant.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a misconception sometimes that, 鈥極h, some rich people lost their homes,鈥欌�� said Mr. O鈥橞rien, whose podcast co-host and assistant lost her house in the blaze, in an . 鈥淭his is something that touched everybody, regardless of your income.鈥�
Ultimately, this year鈥檚 awards will celebrate joy and hope, says Gold Derby鈥檚 Ms. Birnbaum.
鈥淚 know Hollywood gets a bad rap,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut what I really felt in the last two weeks, and the last month, is an outpouring of love from around the country. I think this show will reflect that.鈥�
