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The film "Moonlight" took home the聽Writers Guild of America award for best original screenplay on Sunday. Can the portrayal of a young, gay, black man could beat out the box office hit 鈥� and predominantly white 鈥� "La La Land" for best picture at the Academy Awards on Feb. 26?

Starring Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes,聽each portraying a young black man named Chiron at a different age,聽"Moonlight" centers on a narrative that many say is rare to see onscreen, let alone recognized at award shows. The film鈥檚 director, Barry Jenkins, said in聽an interview with Time Magazine that he had heard from many viewers saying that they 鈥渘ever thought that they would walk into a theater and ... see themselves onscreen.鈥澛�

鈥淲hen you have such a lack of representation, such a lack of images, two things can happen,鈥� Mr. Jenkins said. 鈥淓ither you start to feel like you鈥檙e voiceless, or people who don鈥檛 live in close proximity to you can conveniently start to think you don鈥檛 exist, that you鈥檙e invisible. When images do arise to fill that lack, they take on added importance."聽

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay Times writer Steve Parsall wrote, 鈥淏arry Jenkins' 鈥楳oonlight鈥� is a story of a black life uniquely mattering in movies 鈥� 鈥楳oonlight鈥� shines on three phases and faces of a life that would otherwise be cast aside or closeted. Call him Little as a bullied child, his given name Chiron as a troubled teenager and Black as an unfulfilled adult. He's young, not especially gifted, black and gay.鈥�

Following extremely positive reviews, 鈥淢oonlight鈥� received multiple Oscar nominations, including for best picture, best director for Jenkins, and best supporting actor and best supporting actress for Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris, respectively.聽

The suite of nominations is already a significant departure for the Academy,聽following the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, in which only white actors were nominated for all the Oscars acting prizes. But nominations don't necessarily turn into awards. And "Moonlinght" faces stiff competition from the musical "La La Land" which brought in $134 million in US box office sales, more than six times the $21 million earned by "Moonlight."

And some argue that the Academy has been reluctant to honor movies tied to contemporary issues, sticking to safer territory.聽Indiewire writers聽Jessica Kiang and Oliver Lyttelton, for example, note that director Spike Lee's acclaimed movie "Do the Right Thing" wasn't even nominated for best picture. "It鈥檚 hardly surprising that Spike Lee鈥檚 era-defining, revolutionary 'Do The Right Thing' didn鈥檛 get more Academy love," they write. "Since when has anything truly revolutionary really been embraced by an institution that is this invested in the status quo?"

鈥淟a La Land鈥� may be impossible to beat. Rolling Stone writer Peter Travers referenced the timing of the release of 鈥淢oonlight鈥� in selecting the movie as his 鈥渟poiler鈥� for the best picture race. 鈥淥n the diversity scale, it's off the charts, and allows Oscar voters to congratulate themselves for being on the right side of history,鈥� Mr. Travers wrote of 鈥淢oonlight.鈥� But he selected 鈥淟a La Land鈥� as the 鈥渇avorite.鈥�

Hollywood Reporter writers Scott Feinberg and Todd McCarthy wrote in their Oscars predictions following the WGA winners announcement, 鈥淸鈥楲a La Land鈥� will win 鈥� [and] should win 鈥� 鈥楲a La Land鈥� already appears to have opened the floodgates to more original film musicals, a very welcome development. It's exhilarating, a breath of fresh air and 鈥� like most best picture Oscar winners over the past decade 鈥� not a film the big studios would have made.鈥澛�