Pop Culture Fix: Women of Color Made Oscars History, Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman Were Robbed

It’s been 13 hours since Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman were robbed of their Oscars for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and I’m just as furious as when it happened and I don’t see my rage dissipating any time soon! But here is your Pop Culture Fix because I’m not mad at you.


+ The 2021 Oscars aimed to feel like a movie but it was more like The Undoing: a compelling piece of prestige television that screwed up its finale.

+ Mia Neal, hair department head of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Jamika Wilson, Viola Davis’s personal hairstylist, became the first Black women to ever win an Oscar for makeup and hairstyling.

+ Chloé Zhao makes history as the first woman of color to win an Oscar for Best Director.

+ Here’s why Chloé Zhao’s win matters for Asian women in Hollywood.

+ Chadwick Boseman’s shocking Oscar loss to Anthony Hopkins sparks backlash.

+ From Autostraddle’s Editor in Chief:

+ Catherine Zeta-Jones relives her Oscars performances, including her pregnant duet with Queen Latifah.

+ Jasika Nicole wrote an op-ed for EW about why she won’t do cop shows anymore.

+ Whoopi Goldberg is writing a superhero movie about an older Black woman.

+ Neflix’s Elite just confirmed another queer relationship.

+ Over at Bloody Disgusting — Cat People: Society’s Tethering of Queer Sexuality & Identity

+ Were you one of the ten gazillion people watching and yelling at Shadow and Bone on Netflix this weekend? Well: Kit Young on Jesper and how Shadow and Bone handles queerness.

+ 29 famous people you might not know are bisexual.

+ “I’m the wee lesbian!” How Derry Girls helped me accept myself.

+ For Lesbian Visibility Day, OutSports is celebrating lesbian athletes.

+ 9 Influences on Rebecca Black reinvention, from Madonna to “Friday” hate.

+ Master of None will be back in May, with the story now centering on Lena Waithe’s Denise.

+ Jane Fonda recalls flashing a bear to save her grandson, as one does.

+ Five MILLION people viewed this last night.

+ In conclusion.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

Heather Hogan

Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Heather has written 1718 articles for us.