Anonymous Source Claims That Conan O’Brien’s Oscars Will Be More Emotional Than Funny
We’re less than two weeks away from the 97th annual Academy Awards, that special night when Hollywood celebrates filmmaking excellence using a trophy invented by a millionaire purely to oppress workers.
As we’ve mentioned before, this year’s ceremony will be hosted by none other than Conan O’Brien, meaning that there’s a non-zero chance that an Oscar could be handed out by a dude dressed in a horny bear costume. While we’ll have to wait until March 2nd to see what exactly Conan has planned for the ceremony, one media outlet is suggesting that the show might be more sensitive than wacky.
Closer Weekly recently spoke with an anonymous source who claims that O’Brien’s performance at the Oscars will be largely informed by several real-life tragedies, including the recent deaths of his parents, who passed away just three days apart in December. “The timing of his parents’ deaths was a complete shock and it happened right as things were creatively coming together for him with his upcoming debut turn as Oscar host,” the source stated.
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The L.A. wildfires have similarly had an impact on O’Brien’s Oscar take, according to the unnamed “insider,” who told Closer that “Conan and his family have been evacuated since the fires. He’s pouring the stress of the situation into the Oscars job,” adding that O’Brien wants to turn the ceremony into “a love letter to the people of Los Angeles,” and is therefore “steering the comedy away from his usual over-the-top antics and into something really different and emotional.”
“It’s a huge moment for Conan and he’s going to have to walk a tightrope because of these sensitive issues, but he’s up to the challenge and has the support system around him to actually pull this off and make the show one for the history books,” the source, who may or may not be a foul-mouthed rubber dog puppet, argued.
Okay, first of all, Closer Weekly is also the same outlet that once spoke with another anonymous source who contended that Chevy Chase is no longer an asshole. So maybe take their reporting with a salt factory’s-worth of grains of salt.
It’s true that Conan has confessed that he’s unsure of exactly how to “anticipate the right tone for the show,” previously telling Good Morning America that it’s “a tricky time.” But he was referring to the fires and national political tension; he hasn’t expressed any personal reservations about hosting the show because of the deaths of his parents. And in recent promotional interviews for the Oscars, he’s been as silly as ever, joking about how he’s been training to host the show while “shirtless and oiled.”
Which isn’t to say that O’Brien won’t be sentimental or sincere during the Oscar telecast, but it seems doubtful that he would abandon his “antics” as a result. A good example of O’Brien’s approach to following up tragedy with humor can be found in the episodes of Late Night that aired shortly after 9/11. In his first episode back on the air, O’Brien used his opening monologue to make an earnest appeal to viewers, urging them “not to give into cynicism in any way.”
But the following night, O’Brien opted to air a previously-filmed, unquestionably goofy remote piece that found him attending truck-driving school. “It’s damn near impossible to figure out ways to make people laugh at these times,” he confessed during the show, suggesting that the segment might “lift people’s spirits” because “it’s about nothing, it’s just silliness.”
If pure silliness is Conan’s go-to coping mechanism, why should we expect anything different from the Oscars?
