I can't front: I've mostly stopped checking for the MTV Movie Awards. Part of that might be AWARDS SZN burnout; once the Oscars are over, I try to tune awards talk out until that season picks up again, and with the MTV Movie Awards happening in the spring, and ultimately not being seen as important as other awards, it's hard to get that jazzed up.
I say all of this to say that aside from the teasers and trailers for Spider-Man: Homecoming, It, and Wonder Woman, I didn't go into last night's MTV Movie and TV Awards show thinking it was going to be worthwhile. And for the most part, I was dead wrong.
With this year's MTV Movie Awards also including television shows, as well as having gender-neutral categories, that was enough to stir up some interest, and truth be told, we got some memorable moments from a host of today's brightest stars. At the very least, you get a sense that MTV is trying to force other award shows to be a bit more woke.
Here's a look at the top five moments from last night's MTV Movie and TV Awards.
Jharrel Jerome and Ashton Sanders win the "Best Kiss" award for Moonlight
While not the first time two men have won a Best Kiss popcorn bucket (Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger took it home for Brokeback Mountain in 2006, for example), but for Jharrel Jerome and Ashton Sanders to win this award, after Moonlight took home the Best Picture Oscar earlier this year, was momentous for the outlook on LGBTQ youth and minorities out there. As Jharrel explained during their acceptance, "I think it is safe to say that it is OK for us young performers, especially us minority performers, to step out of the box. I think it's OK to step out of the box and do whatever it takes to tell the story and make a change."
Ashton summed it up perfectly, though: "This is for those who feel like the others, the misfits; this represents us."
Emma Watson wins Best Actor Award
While many might not hold MTV awards up against the Oscars or Golden Globes in terms of merit, you have to respect MTV for pushing boundaries and daring to go there. Hence one of the biggest changes for this year's show: making the acting categories gender-neutral. Emma Watson, who was up against everyone from Hugh Jackman (Logan), Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures), and Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), took home the 2017 MTV Movie Award for Best Actor for her role as Belle in the live-action Beauty and the Beast, and the significance of the moment wasn't lost on her.
“The first acting award in history that doesn’t separate nominees based on their sex says something about how we perceive the human experience."
Millie Bobby Brown's Best Actor win
With the Best Actor in a Show category overflowing with women (the only guys up for the award were Donald Glover and Jeffrey Dean Morgan), it was still a shock for Millie Bobby Brown to take home the popcorn bucket for her awesome portrayal of Eleven in Stranger Things. She legit thanked everyone, including the Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers for creating "a badass, female, iconic character." Need that second season!
Vin Diesel shouts out Paul Walker
To the surprise of no one, the cast of The Fast and the Furious took home MTV's "Generation" Award, and the whole squad was on hand... minus Paul Walker, who died in a car accident in 2013. Walker starred in six of the eight Fast films, and Vin Diesel made sure his spirit was felt during their acceptance. "I could never stand on this stage and talk about fast and furious without giving love to my brother Pablo." The feels.
Taraji P. Henson's "Fight Against the System" speech
This category had some of our favorite moments from the last year in pop culture (Hidden Figures was up against Luke Cage, Loving, Get Out, and Mr. Robot), but Hidden Figures' win made the most sense, especially because it gave Taraji a reason to open up about the importance of the film.
"This movie was bigger than all of us. We understood that," Henson said. "We understood the task at hand. We understood that this is a part of history that needed to be re-implemented into the blood and veins of American history."
What made the moment even iller was Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross and Congresswoman Maxine Waters were the ones to give Henson the award.
