Ryan Gosling was one of the favorites to win the Best Actor Oscar this year. Sadly for the La La Land star, Casey Affleck's performance in Manchester By the Sea held the Academy's favor. That wasn't the only disappointment of RyGos' night: if we're reading the actor's facial expression correctly, he also wasn't particularly pleased with the clip the Oscars used to highlight his performance in the movie musical.
I am just basic enough to have thoroughly enjoyed La La Land (zero shame here) but even I wasn't delighted by the casting of Gosling as the white savior of jazz. Gosling's Sebastian is a lover of the genre, and spends a good chunk of the film explaining his adoration for it to pretty much everyone he meets. He even ruins a working relationship with his friend Keith (John Legend) because Seb can't understand why Keith wants to innovate jazz as opposed to sticking to Seb's beloved classics. At the end of the film, Sebastian opens a nostalgia-inducing jazz bar, and La La Land basically confirms him as the authority on jazz.
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It's... not great. Even Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel took a shot at the film with a "white people saving jazz" comment during his opening speech. Is Gosling keenly aware of how "not great" Seb's whitesplaining is? It's very possible. Immediately after the Oscars played a clip of Seb explaining the art of jazz to his girlfriend Mia (Emma Stone), the La La Land star noticeably cringes. It's the kind of look that screams "Oooh, yeah, stop talking, Sebastian."
Let's be honest: there are plenty of clips from La La Land that would better exemplify Gosling's acting ability. Did no one have a video of him whistling "City Of Stars" to plug in? What about his speech to Mia at the Griffith Observatory? Jeez, I would have settled for Gosling performing "I Ran" in '80s attire.
Don't worry, Gosling: there's always another day of sun in Hollywood, and I'm sure another Best Actor clip in your future.