The 88th Academy Awards commenced Sunday night. There were many surprises, many snubs, and an unusual amount of political commentary by Chris Rock. Taking home Best Picture was Spotlight, predicted by yours truly three weeks ago. While not surprising, I was a little upset to not see my personal favorite film of the year, Mad Max: Fury Road, take the big prize. Fury Road did, however, take the most prizes for the night with six wins, in categories mostly technical.

The category everyone is talking about is Leo’s win for best Actor, after having been nominated several times. Social media exploded with Leo’s win. First and foremost, no person deserves an Oscar. The system is designed so that the prize is based off each separate performance. If someone truly deserves an Oscar for their contributions to the film industry, then they can be given an Honorary Award, as Spike Lee, the man who boycotted the ceremony, was awarded this year. In my honest opinion, I do not think Leo did anything groundbreaking in his performance, and I would have rather seen the statue go to Eddie Redmayne, who played a transgender female with such subtly and poise that made a whole new population, including myself, sympathize and reach a new understanding of the transgender community.

While not the best ceremony I have seen, the 88th Academy Awards was a celebration of the best of film. While there were many snubs, and interest groups had their clear impact with political commentary every break, it was still an exciting night, and one can only wait to see who will win next year.