The 2018 Oscars were a great display of growing awareness of the social and political issues and inequality that plague the United States, suggests Kara Alaimo of CNN. Many of the nominated films dealt with such topics: The Post tackled truth in journalism, Get Out addressed racism, and Call Me By Your Name was about being judged for one’s sexuality. Host Jimmy Kimmel made several political jabs that were as necessary as they were funny. Hollywood is embracing its potential for meaningful social change. These Oscars were a great example of this growing movement. The stories that they chose to highlight could make the world a better place.

While great efforts were made by this year’s edition of the Oscars to be more inclusive, the award winners were still mostly white men, reports Katerina Ang of Moneyish. Many women and minorities were nominated but few ended up winning. The image of people of color handing out career-shaping Oscars to white men didn’t sit well with some. Positive steps are certainly being taken to make the awards show more progressive, but they are far from where they need to be. At one point, the stage didn’t feature any female voices that won an award this year for over an hour. Non-white voices also need to be more central.