One of the most touching traditions at the Oscars is the In Memoriam section of the show. This is where someone goes on stage and introduces a musical montage that showcases some of the film and TV folks that passed away over the past year. But much like everything else about this year’s telecast, the 2021 In Memoriam section, presented by Angela Bassett, was handled differently than in previous years.
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Typically, the montage would be accompanied by a live performance, typically a somber, slow song that plays well in the background as we see images and clips from performers and crew members that passed away. But this year, the slow, somber tone was decidedly changed as we heard a Stevie Wonder song, “As,” propel a fast-paced In Memoriam, where there were no pauses for clips or interviews and instead, if you blinked, you might miss some of the big names that were highlighted.
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And yes, the montage ended with Chadwick Boseman, whose spirit lingered over the entire night, as people were anticipating a joyous moment where his work in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (his final on-screen performance) would net him a Best Actor trophy. Of course, that wasn’t meant to be, as Anthony Hopkins took the award. And so, it would appear that the awards show that seemed poised to honor Boseman in a big way ended without much mention of the actor, except for his picture being shown a couple of times.
As always, the In Memoriam montage also left out a few names that people on social media automatically noticed. Of some of the missing names, there’s songwriter Adam Schlesinger, who wrote the Oscar-nominated song “That Thing You Do,” for the film of the same name, as well as Naya Rivera and Jessica Walter, both probably best known for their TV work, but with plenty of film credits, to be certain.
Regardless of the differences between this year and previous and which people weren’t included, it was another beautiful tribute to the number of folks that passed away. You can watch the whole segment below:
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