Lights flash as the curtains open, presenting a well-dressed African American man representing all the underrepresented races in Hollywood for the night. Diamonds, gowns and tuxes were all the eye could see from the large Dolby Theater. Finally, the camera guy in the back gives the host the signal and the night begins.

This year, on Feb. 28, the annually hosted and biggest night in Hollywood and for all filmmakers was held. The Oscars. However, there was one problem, something that as soon as the list of the nominees went out, everyone was quick to point out- how ‘white washed’ the Oscars were this year.

While the Oscars are not really known for their diversified movies as nominees, much less winners, what really struck people as odd was 2015 was one of the best movies for people of all races such as “Straight Out of Compton,” which was a critically acclaimed.

Last year’s Oscars were hosted by the ever present Neil Patrick Harris, commonly known for his role as Barney Stinson on “How I Met Your Mother.” However, this year the Oscars were hosted by comedian Chris Rock and he made sure that no one forgot that this year’s nominees were all white.

One of the reasons that are speculated a lot in the social media world is that Rock was chosen to host the Oscars because of the issues with ethnic diversity, and Rock did just that, making sure that every white person in the crowd felt uncomfortable.

Rock’s starting monologue was amazing, touching on the issues of blacks needing to get the same opportunities as the people that are white, however; many feel that Rock went a little overboard with the comments. A Washington Post article written by Jessica Contrera voices the issue writing, if the Oscars were all about diversity, why the crude Asian jokes? This was asked because Rock made a comment with three Asian kids pretending to be bankers.

“…Because the only mention of Asians was a stereotype about their smarts and a light-heartened reference to child labor,” wrote Contrera.

The statement Rocks articulated needed to be said, but so does that fact that every race that is in the United States of America should be presented on that stage whether it be: African Americans, Hispanics, Indians, Asians, Pakistanis, Arabs, Persians and so on.

Then the night really started as the audience was told that the night will go in order from how movies are made starting with Best Original Screenplay, won by writers  Charles Randolph and Adam McKay for the movie “The Big Short,” and Best Writing Adapted Screenplay, won by writers Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy for the motion picture film: “Spotlight”.

As the show continued, the movie “Mad Max” swept almost all of the technical, costume design/make up and sound mixing awards. “The Hateful Eight” won Best Original Music Score for Ennio Morricone. “Inside Out,” a Pixar Animation Studios released by Walt Disney Pictures, by Pete Doctor and Ronnie Del Carmen won Best Animated Picture.

The Oscars, filled with the rich and the famous, were all anxiously awaiting the three main awards: Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Picture. But before the celebrities got to that point, Alicia Vikander won Best Supporting Actress for her role in, “The Danish Girl.” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu won Best Director for “The Revenant,” Mark Rylance for Best Supporting Actor for “Bridge of Spies” and Sam Smith won Best Original Song for his song “Writing’s on the Wall” for the movie “Spectre.”

Along with winning Best Original Song, Smith also performed on stage, then The Weekend sang his hit “Earned It” that was also nominated, and Dave Grohl sang “Blackbird” during the Oscars annual clips of big actors and actresses that have passed away in the last year. When Alan Rickman’s picture showed up on the screen the Twitter verse blew up.

Though, while all of these musicians were good in their own right, it was Lady Gaga that really won the show with her powerful anthem “Til It Happens to You.” The song is for the documentary “The Hunting Ground” which touches on the sexually harassed victims around the world on college campuses. Everything during her performance was touching and in the end she was joined by students from the documentary on stage with words like “It wasn’t my fault” and “I am a survivor” written on their arms.

Before her song, Vice President Joe Biden gave another touching speech about taking the pledge about speaking up about sexual assault and what anyone can do to help.

Best Documentary Short Subject was won by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy for “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness”  and she also gave a powerful speech about the impact that movies can have speaking out about how this movie has made the Pakistani government change their laws on honor killings.

Another part of the show that annoyed some was the music that played during winner’s speeches such as Inarritu who ended with a stunning quote about how the color of our skin should be as unimportant as the length of our hair.

Finally, the show came to the much awaited section, when we finally see who wins the big three prizes: Brie Larson for Best Actress for “Room,” a story of a woman who was taken at a young age and held captive. Her captor raped her so often that eventually she births a child played by Jacob Tremblay. The movie shows their transition from their life in the room to the world outside and the hardships they face as they try to fit in.

Next, “Spotlight” wins for Best Picture. This is another heartfelt story and one that should’ve of won more than the two Oscars. The story speaks out about the issue of Priests around the world in Catholic Church’s molesting young boys. Despite the common knowledge that this was happening, many remained silent. Till a group of investigative journalist picked up on the story (Liev Schreiberand playing Martin “Marty” Baron the editor-in-chief of The Boston Globe, Rachel McAdams playing reporter Sacha Pfeiffer, Mark Ruffalo playing reporter Michael Rezendes and finally Michael Keaton playing Walter “Robby” Robinson, a editor, reporter and the team leader of Spotlight). This movie truly sends out a message to those who have suffered in silence to long and those who have escaped punishment from their terrible disease. This movie explains the necessity for investigative journalism and why we should all fight for each other’s rights.

Though, despite everything that went on during the night, the truly memorable moment was when Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor for the movie “The Revenant.” Nominated for this post five times previously, it is a wonder that the sixth time is a charm. However, DiCaprio truly does win this award as he plays one of his best roles yet. A man stuck in the indigenous forest trying to find his son. Coupled with award winning director Inarritu, the movie and the actors were bound to be a hit.

Though, while much of the social media world was screaming their joy for DiCaprio, the other half were crying from the loss of the many memes that amused people around the world.