Parodying the 1974 Naked Commotion
'Support for the Wage Equality Campaign' Interpretation Also
Famous actor and former professional wrestler John Cena has sparked attention this year by appearing naked at the American Academy Awards.
Actor John Cena appeared naked on stage at the 96th Academy Awards. [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]
At the 96th Academy Awards held on the 10th (local time) at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles (LA), USA, Cena appeared as the presenter for the Best Costume Design award. On this day, Cena reenacted an incident from the 1974 Academy Awards when a man named David Niven ran onto the stage naked during the announcement of the winner. This year marks the 50th anniversary of that event. The U.S. media explained that during the 1970s, when the nude craze was at its peak, it was common for men to disrupt public events by appearing naked.
The host, Jimmy Kimmel, said, "Can you imagine if a naked man ran across the stage today?" and called Cena. Then, Cena took off his shirt from the corner of the stage and said, "This is not right. This is a dignified occasion." When Kimmel asked again, "Why are you doing this while wrestling naked?" Cena replied, "A man's body is not a laughingstock," and entered the stage covering only his private parts with the envelope containing the winner's name.
The witty point was that Cena announced the Best Costume Design award. Cena attracted attention by saying, "Perhaps the most important thing in a movie is the costume." Cena was able to put on clothes only after the nominees for the costume award were announced, with Kimmel's help. Thanks to Cena's performance, the Best Costume Design award at this year's Academy Awards, which created an unforgettable moment, was won by the film Poor Things.
Some interpret Cena's naked appearance on stage as a show of support for the wage equality campaign that designers are conducting to receive fair pay. Costumes play a very important role in movies, but costume designers claim they do not receive fair compensation for their designs, and they do not receive profits when film studios sell costumes from movies. For these reasons, the Costume Designers Guild is running a wage equality campaign with the slogan "We're naked without us" (#nakedwithotus). On the Instagram account sharing news about the campaign, there is a post featuring a photo of Cena along with a thank-you message for his remarks.
Cena holds the record for the most WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) World Championship titles, having won 16 times. He later appeared in the Fast & Furious series, The Suicide Squad, and the recently released Argyl. The film Poor Things, which won the Best Costume Design award that day, also won Best Makeup and Best Production Design, achieving a triple crown.
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