The 2024 Academy Awards are in the book and while overall the year held surprisingly few surprises, the second-to-last award of the night is the one that has people talking. The Best Actress category was as stacked as ever, with two powerhouse performances among an incredible list of nominees. Emma Stone ended up taking the statue home for her performance in Poor Things, which shocked a lot of people, including, it would seem, Stone herself.
Lily Gladstone made history with her nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon as the first indigenous person nominated for an Academy Award. Many fully expected she would be the first indigenous actress to win an Oscar until Emma Stone’s name was called. And while nobody is discounting what was a truly remarkable performance by Stone, many on Twitter still think that the award should have gone to Gladstone…
Emma Stone is absolutely incredible in Poor Things but Lily Gladstone's performance in Killers of the Flower Moon is *forever* and it always will be.
There have certainly been years where an Oscar went to a movie that ultimately did not stand the test of time the same way one of the other nominees did, and many seem to think that’s what happened here. It doesn’t appear that anybody feels Emma Stone’s performance was anything less than extraordinary. Still, they do think that Lily Gladstone had already made history in the role, and should have done the same with the award. As another person tweeted:
Emma Stone is awesome and she's amazing in Poor Things. BUT - I am really bummed the #Oscars academy couldn't find a way to honor Lily Gladstone for a breakthrough role in film, as the first Native American woman to win an acting Oscar. Time for Hollywood to ensure she's not the only indigenous actress to get nominated in recent years.
Certainly, Lily Gladstone had to be seen as a front-runner for the Oscar, she had won several Best Actress awards over the last few months. She and Stone were the two most likely to take the Oscar home. Gladstone had a lot of people invested in her story, so it would seem many feel something is missing since the story did not end in the way it would have been written. Case in point: this tweet.
Much as I love Emma Stone and as phenomenal as her performance was and how stunningly different Poor Things is as a film, I was soooo invested in Lily Gladstone winning. She's so magnificent in Killers of the Flower Moon and that film is so important. Glad she won so many other… pic.twitter.com/CbPqNENcbfMarch 11, 2024
Of course, not everybody views the situation in quite the same way. While so many thought Lily Gladstone would win, despite Emma Stone’s stellar performance, some argue on Twitter that despite Gladstone’s stellar performance, Emma Stone was incredible in Poor Things and fully deserving of the win…
Listen, Lily Gladstone is fantastic in Killers of the Flower Moon, but please refrain from under-valuing the flat out miracle performance Emma Stone gave in Poor Things. It’s a part that could have (and maybe should have) been a disaster, but turned out extraordinary.
Ultimately, nobody may be as shocked by the outcome as Emma Stone herself. She seemed legitimately shocked to hear her name called on Oscar night, and there’s an argument that even Stone believed Gladstone would take home the Oscar, so she wasn’t ready when her name was announced. As another tweet pointed out
EMMA STONE TRULY THOUGHT LILY GLADSTONE WAS GOING TO WIN THE OSCAR OMG #Oscars pic.twitter.com/2Ds3idbXKNMarch 11, 2024
One person who doesn't seem too upset by Emma Stone's win is Lily Gladstone herself. She looked thrilled for her friend, and Stone and Gladstone have become friends over the last few months as they vied for awards together.
Awarding the best in cinema is always tough, every nominee is great and arguably deserving of winning. On the one hand, there usually isn’t a bad choice to make, but it also means others are always left out. Lily Gladstone didn’t make history as an Oscar winner, but she did make history.
