The 88th Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, aired Sunday on ABC. Controversy and negative publicity surrounded the event. Although many of the actors and press arrived with smiles and lavish wardrobes, audiences watching were of a different mind.

“#OscarsSoWhite” plagued the anticipation of the annual event. As one would expect, host Chris Rock took advantage of the opportunity to exploit the disparity between the number of white nominations and black nominations. The ratio was 1-0.

Rock is a comedian, but several of the jokes fell flat. It gave the Oscars an awkward beginning. Rock continuously pushed the envelope on exposing the absence of black nominations, to the point that some thought he would be yanked off stage.

However, as things got going, the awkwardness slowly disappeared and things proceeded smoothly. Those who attended the Oscars shrugged off the issue because the criticism was unwarranted.

Awards given at the Golden Globes and the Saturn Awards are almost always consistent with Academy Awards nominations. There are very few nominations that are exclusive to the Oscars.

Blame lies with Hollywood as a business. Kevin Hart, who introduced a performance by The Weeknd, spoke on the issue.

“At the end of the day we love what we do, we’re breaking major ground doing it. These problems of today will eventually become problems of the old. Let’s not let this negative issue of diversity beat us. Let’s continue to do what we do best. With that being said, congratulations on an amazing year,” Hart said.

The issue was put to rest and the award show ran smoothly.

Director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s masterful film “The Revenant” was nominated for 12 Oscars, the highest count for the year (“Mad Max: Fury Road” was nominated for 10). Iñárritu was awarded “Best Director.” He became the first director in more than 50 years to win two years in a row. His film “Birdman” claimed the category in 2015.

Justice finally came to Leonardo DiCaprio. Year after year, he has been nominated for leading roles or supporting roles and every time the press predicted that his wins would be guaranteed. The problem the Academy had was that DiCaprio could not break the barrier of encapsulating the look and tone of the characters he was portraying.

No matter the intensity, no matter how tight his acting was, it always looked like DiCaprio playing dress-up. This time around, he finally broke new ground and became the character Hugh Glass. It was the edge DiCaprio needed to get that “Best Actor” award.

Brie Larson won “Best Actress” for her captivating performance in “Room,” the character study of a mother and her son held captive for years and embracing freedom.

The filmmakers for “Mad Max: Fury Road” walked away with six wins out of the 10 nominations. The motion-picture action statement won “Best Sound Mixing,” “Best Sound Editing,” “Best Film Editing,” “Best Makeup,” “Best Production Design” and “Best Costume Design.”

The film “Spotlight,” about the Boston Globe exposing child sex abuse in 2002, won “Best Picture,” the top award of the evening. The other films nominated were “The Revenant,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Big Short,” “Brooklyn,” “The Martian” and “Room.”

Lastly, Lady Gaga gave a powerful performance for the song “Til It Happens to You,” from the film “The Hunting Ground.” Although the song lost to “Writing’s on the Wall” from the film “Spectre,” it was perhaps the highlight of the evening. In typical fashion, Lady Gaga belted out emotion and thunderous piano chords and was later joined on stage by women who have all survived sexual assault. It was poignant and moving, almost demanding tears of the audience.

Despite the “rocky” start, the 88th Academy Awards finished strong. Filmmakers received their due spotlight, especially DiCaprio and those who made “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Anything is possible for Hollywood now. It is up to the business to take the necessary steps to improve the relationship between the apparatus and the audience.

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