--- description: What was most likely an innocent logistical mistake at the 2017 Oscars ultimately did an unfortunate disservice to the rightful winner. title: The Best Picture Oscar Mix-Up Was More Than Just Awkward image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ecedf1382bd5613/6988bc2aa988ca15626bb29d/best-picture-mix-up.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [awards](/tag/awards/) ## awards Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Best Picture Mix-Up Was More Than Just Awkward. It Did a Disservice to _Moonlight_.  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 27, 2017 5:25 PM CUT  'La La Land' producer Jordan Horowitz (L) announces actual Best Picture winner as 'Moonlight' after a presentation error with host Jimmy Kimmel and actor Warren Beatty onstage during the 89th Annual Academy Awards on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. 'La La Land' producer Jordan Horowitz (L) announces actual Best Picture winner as 'Moonlight' after a presentation error with host Jimmy Kimmel and actor Warren Beatty onstage during the 89th Annual Academy Awards on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California.Kevin Winter—Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 27, 2017 5:25 PM CUT Sunday night’s [Oscars ceremony](http://time.com/4683402/oscars-2017-recap-review/ "undefined") ended with a double jaw-dropper: first, in a historic mix-up, presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty were handed the wrong envelope and [incorrectly announced _La La Land_](http://time.com/4683500/oscars-2017-wrong-best-picture-announced/ "undefined") as Best Picture. Then _Moonlight_, which bookies and prognosticators alike had deemed the incontrovertible underdog, was announced as the winner. The moment was exciting for viewers, jubilant for _Moonlight_ devotees and embarrassing for _La La Land_, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the presenters and the Academy. But it also did a great disservice to the creative team behind _Moonlight_. Immediately after the wrong was righted, [_La La Land_](http://time.com/4683534/oscars-2017-la-la-land-stars-reactions/ "undefined") producer Jordan Horowitz graciously ceded the floor to _Moonlight_ writer-director Barry Jenkins. Host Jimmy Kimmel made some jokes about his lack of fitness for the job and [Beatty tried](http://time.com/4683501/oscars-2017-best-picture-warren-beatty/ "undefined") to explain what happened. Jenkins and producer Adele Romanski somehow mustered the composure to accept their surprise award. Everyone onstage made the best of the chaos and moments later, the broadcast was over and Twitter was left to [analyze screenshots](http://time.com/4683573/oscars-2017-best-picture-mixup-emotions-pictures/ "undefined") of the play-by-play and snicker over [memes of Ryan Gosling](http://time.com/4683573/oscars-2017-best-picture-mixup-emotions-pictures/ "undefined"). _Moonlight_ is now permanently inscribed in the book of Best Picture winners—cozy in the company of _Casablanca_ and _On the Waterfront_ and _The Godfather_. But it goes down with an unfortunate asterisk. In the immediate aftermath of its win, [headlines focused](https://twitter.com/ira/status/836105382258851842 "undefined") more on the gaffe than the victory itself. The shocking twist overshadowed a triumph that, had it unfolded as planned, would have heralded a moment of unadulterated glory instead of one of bewildered rubbernecking. **MORE** [Review: A Lively Oscars Show Ended With the Mother of All Mix-Ups](http://time.com/4683402/oscars-2017-recap-review/ "undefined") The show, already running over time, spent precious minutes on _La La Land_’s soon-to-be retracted speeches, rather than allowing Jenkins and Romanski the opportunity to bask in their win. The idea that _Moonlight_’s victory was an upset—a sports analogy that’s not entirely unfit but still somehow casts the winner in a [less-deserving light](https://twitter.com/KaraRBrown/status/836133795795390464 "undefined")—felt even more apt as we watched Horowitz hand over the golden statue to Jenkins. For such a mix-up to happen to a movie that is about a marginalized person—a poor, gay, black man—felt even more bittersweet than it might have had the situation been reversed. _Moonlight_ has been celebrated not just for its lush cinematography, haunting score and empathetic exploration of its protagonist’s interior life, but for its representation, as Jenkins and co-writer Tarell Alvin McCraney said upon accepting their Adapted Screenplay Oscar, of people who are not with any frequency—or much nuance, for that matter—represented onscreen. For a movie about overshadowed people to be overshadowed by an industry that consistently overshadows stories like _Moonlight_‘s was a metaphor that carried with it pain, as some [pointed out](https://twitter.com/drewshane/status/836083195493888000 "undefined") on Twitter, even in a joyful moment. **MORE** [A Roundup of Every Political Moment at the 2017 Oscars](http://time.com/4680665/oscars-2017-political-moments/ "undefined") _Moonlight_’s victory has already been cast, controversially, in many ways: as a corrective, by Academy members, to two years of #oscarssowhite controversy—or as as [Hollywood’s rebuke](http://www.vox.com/culture/2017/2/27/14748228/oscar-best-picture-moonlight-la-la-land-mixup-beatty-dunaway "undefined") to President Trump. And it may be naive to suggest that politics had zero role to play in its win. But its win deserves to be recognized not as an upset or a statement but as a testament to its inherent power and beauty as a film. Let that be the narrative that sticks. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4683998/oscars-2017-moonlight-la-la-land-mix-up/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4683998/oscars-2017-moonlight-la-la-land-mix-up/"},"headline":"The Best Picture Mix-Up Was More Than Just Awkward. 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