A few weeks ago, the hashtag #Oscarssowhite dropped in response to this year’s major nominees not having any a representation of color. Many felt that the world’s greatest super villain, the white male, was once again flexing his super power of dominating mediocrity over a more worth diverse set of candidates. But it did not quite go down that way.

It seems that throughout the night, rather than a celebration of white men, everybody pushed their cause for the oppressed. Patricia Arquette delivered her speech advocating equal pay for women. The director of Birdman urged for the proper treatment of immigrants. John Legend protested the mass incarceration of black males by pointing out that there are more African American men in prison than there was in slavery.

Many people were so ready to watch how white-washed the awards ceremony has become and instead left talking about the various causes of minority groups. That is irony for you. For a show that many perceived as built on politics, politics became the mainstay of the evening. Of course it wasn’t planned, but it was the accidental salt spill that put flavor into what many anticipated to be a bland night of privileged recognition. Those were the performances that deserved the awards.