Oscars: Will Smith's slap shouldn't overshadow Coda's triumph – Scotsman comment

If half the world wasn’t talking about Will Smith’s forceful slapping of comedian Chris Rock, the story of the Oscars would certainly have been about the winner in the best picture category, Coda.

A low-budget, independent film, it tells the story of a hearing daughter in a deaf family who must balance helping them with her dreams of becoming a singer. The film’s title, Coda, is an acronym that stands for Children of Deaf Adults.

So it is fair to say that it made an unlikely Oscar winner, based on the ceremony’s apparent preference for films with big budgets and even bigger star names.

And not only did it win best picture, but one of its stars, Troy Kotsur, became only the second deaf actor to win an Oscar, for best supporting actor, and another was awarded for best adapted screenplay.

So it is also fair to say that this must be a very good film.

Applause in sign language from the audience as the cast and crew accepted the best picture award added to the sense that something rather special had just happened.

In his acceptance speech, delivered through an interpreter, Kotsur dedicated the award to “the deaf community, the Coda community and the disabled community”. “This is our moment,” he added.

Cast and crew members from Coda celebrate their success at the Oscars (Picture: David Livingston/Getty Images )

While Smith’s actions have dominated the headlines – and the proportion of people on the planet with internet access who have not watched the video is likely to be small – we should remember that the Oscars is about film-making, at its finest a truly moving art form, and Coda still deserves to have its day in the sun.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.