'Moonlight's' big Oscar win changed more than envelope procedure; it blew another hole in the definition of 'best picture.'
LOS ANGELES - Even if last year's Oscars ceremony hadn't ended with the most embarrassing gaffe in the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' nearly 90-year history, the announcement that "Moonlight" had won best picture still would have come as an industry-rattling shock.
Everyone had expected an easy win for "La La Land," which had entered the night with a pack-leading 14 nominations and key precursor awards. A star-driven throwback to vintage musicals, Damien Chazelle's movie was considered much more in line with academy tastes than a gritty realist drama about a young black man's impoverished Miami upbringing.
In its unblinking view of race, homosexuality and frustrated masculinity, "Moonlight" cut against deeply ingrained industry prejudices about the kinds of films that can expect to compete for Hollywood's highest honor. Produced on a shoestring $4-million budget, it was regarded even by its admirers as too small, too arty, too niche and, frankly, too good for the Oscars - a soulful heartbreaker in a contest that typically
