The Oscars In Memoriam segment can never win

There is something comforting about the recurring narratives of awards season; the familiar patterns of adulation and outrage, riding along on the well-worn grooves of decades-old discourse. Who was snubbed? Who got their long-overdue career achievement award? Which presenter had the breakout bit? What stars were left out of the In Memoriam?

Obviously, the In Memoriam segment is a sensitive section, and obviously, the Oscars are never going to be able to fully satisfy everyone. The show has less than five minutes to create an appropriate, tasteful montage that pays tribute to an international community of artists, and not just the big stars you know—in addition to actors, the segment acknowledges directors, producers, composers, production designers, editors, attorneys, agents, executives, basically the whole gamut of the entertainment industry. With so much to do and so little time, there’s always someone left out that will make the audience upset. This year the Academy attempted to subvert this typical reaction by concluding the larger montage with a long list of names who didn’t get their pictures flashed on the screen or a snippet of dialogue.

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No surprise here, but the list was not enough to appease some unhappy fans. That’s because the list included some notable names, including Lance Reddick, Treat Williams, Ron Cephas Jones, Suzanne Somers, Burt Young, Norman Lear, Sinéad O’Connor, Tom Smothers, Kenneth Anger, Ray Stevenson, Cormac McCarthy, and Terence Davies, among others. Angus Cloud—who, in fairness, was better known for television in his all-too-short career—was not included at all.

As always, there’s a more exhaustive list of the stars we lost over the last year on the Oscars’ website, but the exclusion of certain artists like Reddick from the main montage ruffled feathers. Feathers are always going to get ruffled, though, because deciding who to include and who to cut is an undoubtedly thankless task. The full presentation, which was backed by Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo Bocelli singing “Con Te Partirò” (“Time To Say Goodbye”) and a choreographed dance, included figures like Ryan O’Neal, Matthew Perry, Jane Birkin, Glenda Jackson, Tina Turner, William Friedkin, and more recently deceased stars like Glynis Johns, Chita Rivera, Carl Weathers, and Richard Lewis.