Ditching a host can help the show run on time (this one did not, and not only because of Joaquin Phoenix’s extended argument for veganism). It can leave room for unscripted awards moments. But it loses one of the functions of the awards show host in recent years: to be the elephant-in-the-room pointer, the joker, lowercase, who acknowledges the industry’s failures and embarrassments.

In this case, the Oscars’ most noted offscreen controversy — the glaring whiteness and maleness of many of the major categories and movies — didn’t get quite the airing an extended monologue might have delivered.

The collective did get in a few shots. Rock jibed that Cynthia Erivo, nominated for playing Harriet Tubman, must have hidden all the black nominees, while Monáe said, “We celebrate all the women who directed phenomenal films” (something the best director nominations pointedly didn’t).

This anarchist collective of a ceremony ended up being a sort of anthology of mini-shows, hosted by a string of presenters. Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig won Best Audition for a Future Awards Show, nailing a tight a cappella duet medley themed to the best costume design category. James Corden and Rebel Wilson, in costume from “Cats,” spoofed the uncanny-valley horror of that movie: “Nobody more than us understands the importance of good visual effects.”