Everything I need to know, I learned from the 67th Emmy Awards

Well, we did it everybody. We watched the Emmys together, or at least we did if you were on Twitter last night. Let’s be real–we’re all kind of always on Twitter, right? Though I am 100% more of an Oscar than an Emmy, I will quickly and confidently admit that this year’s Emmys was the most important award show I have seen in years. There was an endless stream of trans awareness, Black women being incredible, and diversity for everybody. Lane Bryant even aired an amazing commercial with plus sized women in lingerie! It was a definitely a history telecast and we were there to soak it all in. Okay, without further ado:

EINTKILF the 67th Emmy Awards

1. Trans lives matter.
Jeffrey Tambor won his FIRST EVER Emmy for his role as Maura Pfefferman in Transparent. Though I have admittedly never seen Transparent, I adore Tambor (who doesn’t?) and I am now a little in love with Jill Soloway. In both speeches (Soloway won for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series), Soloway and Tambor respectfully and proudly acknowledged trans people for their courage and inspiration. Both speeches made me cry–obviously.

Another important part of Soloway’s speech was her shoutout to transequality.org, encouraging all of us to check it out and to vote for the trans equality bill. Please do so if you have not yet.

2. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is unstoppable.
It is pretty safe to say that most of us were rooting for Amy Poehler to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series—probably even Dreyfus herself. Though it is absolutely tragic to think that Poehler was never properly rewarded for her role as Leslie Knope on Parks and Recreation, it is important to note that Poehler and the fictional Leslie Knope don’t need an award to forever be in our hearts.

I love Veep—so, so much—but I love Parks too. Dreyfus has won four years in a row for her role as Selina Meyer, and honestly? We kind of need Selina in our lives right now. Dreyfus is amazing and Selina is amazing and because it really is getting trickier and trickier to satirize “this stuff” (“this stuff” being American politics), we need her more now than ever before.

3. Females are strong as hell.
Also though? I teared up hearing all of those women’s names being read out loud. What a strong and incredible category Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series was. What a fantastic night for women in general. From the impressive lineup of nominees to the absolutely perfect commercial for Apple Music to watching Amy Schumer win the first Emmy in the Best Sketch Comedy Series, women were the winners of the Emmys. Women are always the winners of everything, tbh.

Okay but also that Apple commercial was amazing and apparently ONE OF THREE so REJOICE, WORLD.

4. Spoiler alerts are real, y’all.
I absolutely loved the sweet montage for all of the shows that ended this year and NOT just because I got to see my little Glee babies for another minute, buuuut the Emmys dgaf about spoiler alerts. Twitter was hilarious during the spoiler-full montage but nothing was spoiled for me because Jon Hamm meditating means nothing to me (yet!) and I’ll never watch Nurse Jackie. Also hearing Leslie Knope’s speech again made me cry like the highly sensitive person I am.

5. Thank your makeup artist.
Amy Schumer’s speech for Best Sketch Comedy Series was amazing. The usually bold Schumer surprised us with a sweet, tearful, uncalculated speech that touched everyone’s hearts. We are talking about Schumer though, so obviously there were a couple of laughs through our tears. When Schumer thanked the girl who gave her “this sort of a smokey eye” and told her that she “really loves it,” I cracked up. Also that is so sweet and I am sure her makeup person will be proud for the rest of her life.

6. Cling to television.
When Jon Stewart got up there to accept the award for Outstanding Variety Talk Series, all was well again. I miss Stewart’s face so much and how dare he rock an extremely attractive beard when I can’t see him all the time? Anyway, I digress. In his speech, Stewart gave us all permission to “cling to television,” and sure, he was mostly talking to people that work in television, but I am going to take it as a sign that I need to keep watching every single show that I have missed out on. I am basically Andy Samberg in the opening montage of the show.

7. Writers are everything. 

When Peter “Best Man Alive” Dinklage won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, he opened his speech with the line, “We’re only as good as our writers.” Though I have a lot of feelings about Game of Thrones, I do very much appreciate Dinklage and I do very much appreciate the fact that there are probably like a million writers that work for that show. Actors are great, but the behind-the-scenes work is just as important. Thanks for acknowledging that, Dinklage.

And now I’m going to cry through the rest of this.

8. Black Girls Rock. 
More than just a cute catchphrase, Black Girls Rock was the subtle theme of the Emmys last night. Not only were we all SO THERE for any sighting of Taraji P. Henson, Kerry Washington, Viola Davis, and Mary J. Blige (I know, what??), those women did not let us down. Viola Davis made history last night when she won for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for How to Get Away With Murder—no Black woman in history has ever won that award before. Davis gave one of the absolute most amazing speech I have ever heard in my award-show-loving-life when she hopped up there to gracefully accept her award. Opening her speech with a beautiful, poignant, heartbreaking sentiment from Harriet Tubman, Davis went on to specifically discuss the fact that Black women cannot win awards for roles that are not there. She went on to thank a number of Black actresses for their compassion, hardwork, and dedication. Kerry Washington openly cried throughout the speech and so did everyone else including myself and yes, I am crying right now.

Davis’ speech was more than historic, it was necessary, and beautiful, and inspirational for our future.

9. Be yourself. 
Speaking of incredible Black women, the perfect human being Uzo Aduba won her second (in a row!) Emmy for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Aduba cried through her speech while she spoke to the Orange is the New Black cast, everyone else that was nominated, and when she spoke to her family. Though her moment when she said “it humbles me to be your sister,” what stuck out to me was when Aduba thanked everyone for letting her be herself. “You let me be me,” she said.

And that sweet, simple sentiment is something we all need to know and hear, every single day.

10. Tracy Morgan is the world.
On a serious note, Andy Samberg (who did a fantastic job, for the record) brought out Tracy Morgan to the stage for the first time since his terrible car accident. Morgan was humbled by the support and expressed his genuine gratefulness for everyone who has been rooting for him to get well.  Morgan eased flawlessly into jokes and we all cried and laughed along with him. It was incredible to see Morgan again and I am so happy that he is on the mend.

And though we all had disappointments—Parks and Rec and Mad Men losing even though it was their last chance to win—this particular event really, truly stood out as an important night in awards show history. Finally.

Images via FOX, Apple

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