It’s not always easy to keep audiences glued to their seats for the non-acting categories every Oscar season, but I found the ceremony’s use of John Cena extremely entertaining and well worth watching this year.
James Gunn’s favorite “Peacemaker” was called upon to present the best achievement in costume design award in a moment described by host Jimmy Kimmel (whose Oscar monologue was kind of cringe) as a nod to an infamous incident that took place at the 42nd Academy Awards ceremony. Art gallery owner Robert Opel streaked across the stage while David Niven prepared to introduce Elizabeth Taylor, causing Niven to quip about Opel’s ‘shortcomings.’ The ‘tribute’ had Cena mock-sheepishly shuffling across the stage, the envelope held before him to “protect” his modesty. He and Kimmel bantered about his previous wardrobe choices, with Kimmel declaring that Cena’s choice to wrestle in jorts was worse than being naked in public.
Cena couldn’t move the envelope to present the nominees, so Kimmel helped him introduce them. When the camera cut back to the auditorium, Cena was draped in a golden curtain — shades of Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) in “Gone with the Wind” — and passed the award out to “Poor Things” costume designer Holly Waddington.
The hilarious moment was definitely one of my favorite moments of the evening. It had sharp writing, a great performance by Cena, and a deserving win for Waddington. It’s certainly an Oscar moment viewers will remember for a long, long time.
