A dull Oscar ceremony was livened up by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñarritu’s politically charged acceptance speech and the reactions of Sean Penn and Donald Trump, who sparked controversy with comments that some suggested were racist.
González Iñarritu’s “Birdman” beat out long-term favorite “Boyhood,” for the coveted Best Picture award. He also won the best director prize.
In his acceptance speech, the director took aim at the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto and alluded to immigration reform in the United States.
“I want to dedicate this award to my fellow Mexicans, the ones who live in Mexico,” Gonzalez Iñárritu said. “I pray that we can find and build the government that we deserve. And the ones that live in this country, who are part of the latest generation of immigrants in this country, I just pray that they can be treated with the same dignity and respect as the ones who came before and built this incredible immigrant nation.”
The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) responded defensively to Gonzalez Iñarritu’s comments. The administration congratulated the director but claimed that it was already “building a better government,” on its official Twitter account.
Sean Penn sparked controversy on social media when he made a distasteful joke before presenting the award to Gonzalez Iñarritu. The actor asked how the Mexican director, who he worked with on the film “21 grams,” had been given his green card.
“And great job Sean Penn. Ruining a fantastic moment with a green card ‘joke.’” wrote Mexican-American actor Mario Lopez.
Some Twitter users rushed to Penn’s defense, pointing out that he and Iñarritu have been friends for years. The Mexican director himself described the comment as “hilarious.”
Yet not everyone was convinced. Many people suggested it was a joke best kept between friends and not shared on a major public stage. An article in the Huffington Post even said he “may have ruined the entire Oscars.”
Donald Trump used the occasion to vent against Mexico. “It was a great night for Mexico, as usual,” Trump said in an interview. “This guy (Iñárritu) kept getting up and up and up. I said, ‘What is he doing? He’s walking away with all the gold.’ Was it that good? I don’t hear that. But it was certainly a big night for them.’
On his Twitter account, Trump even said that Mexico was “ripping off the U.S. more than almost any other nation.”
The success of “Birdman” means Mexicans have won best director for two years running.
In 2014, Alfonso Cuaron won for “Gravity,” his groundbreaking sci-fi film about a team of astronauts lost in space.
Gonzalez Iñarritu is one of a collective of Mexican directors who have enjoyed success on the international stage. With Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro, the group is known as the “three amigos,” also the title of a book about the success of their “transnational filmmaking.” But the group extends beyond directors to the cinematographers Luzbeki and Prieto, and includes Oscar-winning production designer Eugenio Caballero.
“The common thread is that they all take risks,” said film commentator John Hecht. “They push the limits of technology, the limits of photography, the limits of storytelling.