SERIOUS MOONLIGHT Behind the scenes at the 2017 Academy Awards with filmdom’s first lady of Oscar cheerleading (my close friends know I was captain of the twirlers in high school) By Peggy Siegal Was this year different from all other years at the Oscars? In one way, it wasn't. A24's "Moonlight" won best picture because voters went for content over style. The win was for it’s poetic take on the American ideals that the Academy values most and wants reflected globally. History was also made as "Moonlight" became the first Oscar winner with an all black cast and addressed the LGBTQ community. And, it was a beautiful film. But on the other hand, Oscar voters were also dealing with a political and emotional crisis in the film industry. After two years of #OscarsSoWhite, they responded by nominating a record six African American actors, four African American producers and one African American director, Barry Jenkins, the fourth ever nominated in that category. Three films addressing race were nominated for best picture: “Fences,” “Hidden Figures” and “Moonlight.” Lionsgate's "La La Land" was a joyous escape from months of simmering frustration and anger at Donald J. Trump, himself a creature of the entertainment industry. The charming and modern musical “La La” danced its way to multiple awards from critics, at the PGA, the DGA, the BAFTA and the Venice Film Festival, a record seven Golden Globes, en route to an historic fourteen Academy Award nominations. Prognosticators predicted a "La La” landslide. So what happened? Days before the voting deadline, "La La Land" was tripped-up by a lastminute backlash against frivolity. Even in La La Land, these are serious times. Backstage at the Dolby Theater, star-struck nitwit accountant Brian Cullinan, oblivious to the fact that the Oscars are a sacred secular ceremony and distracted while tweeting a photo of Emma Stone, handed Warren Beatty the wrong envelope. Chaos—and headlines—ensued. Tweets, chaos and headlines? It was all