From host Chris Rock’s full frontal attack on the lack of acting opportunities for black artists in the movie business to Best Actor winner Leonardo DiCaprio’s acceptance speech encouraging a debate on climate change, this year’s Oscars were the most political in decades. But thanks to the likes of Rock and Kevin Hart, the evening had its share of levity.

PreShow: Mad Max: Fury Road actress Charlize Theron gave an excellent answer to what she was most excited about at the Oscars.

There are several quotable quotes in Rock’s opening monologue, but his “sorority racist” comment got the most attention. “Is Hollywood racist?” asked Rock during his speech. “You’re damn right Hollywood’s racist ... Hollywood is ‘sorority racist.’ It’s like ‘We like you Rhonda, but you’re not a Kappa.’”

In an echo of previous host Ellen De Generes’s pizza ordering stunt, Rock sold cookies made by his daughter and other Girls Scouts for charity.

Actors Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe were the only ones to remind us that the presenters don’t have to be dull.

Room child star Jacob Tremblay joined Beasts of No Nation actor Abraham Attah to present the award for the live-action short film. Before they announced Stutterer as the winner, Rock ran out to get boxes for the two young actors to stand on.

The Force from Star Wars did not win anything, but it stayed true to the Academy Awards. The movie robots C-3PO, R2-D2 and BB-8 appeared on stage to pay tribute to franchise composer John Williams’s 50th Oscar nomination. According to C-3PO, the golden Oscar statue is “rather good looking”. Jacob Tremblay is caught on camera standing up at his seat to get a better view.

Latest Hollywood import Priyanka Chopra caused local hearts to flutter when she co-presented the award for editing.

Singer Sam Smith, who won for “The Writing’s on the Wall” from the James Bond movie Spectre, also used the stage as a platform for gay rights. “The Writing’s on the Wall” is the second Bond theme to win an Oscar after Adele’s Skyfall in 2013. Like Adele, Smith had already won a Golden Globe ahead of the Oscars. He dedicated his award to the LGBT community as he stood there as a “proud gay man”.

Gaga’s performance of “Till It Happens To You” from the documentary The Hunting Ground was introduced by American Vice President Joe Biden, who spoke about the White House’s It’s On Us campaign, which focuses on sexual assault. Gaga’s performance featured a group of sexual assault survivors, and all of them got a standing ovation in the end.

The night ended with DiCaprio finally winning an Oscar for his performance in The Revenant. The committed environmentalist spoke about climate change, which he described as not only “the most urgent threat affecting our entire species”, but also an issue that should concern filmmakers since locations are now being compromised by weather changes. “We need to support leaders around the world … who speak for all of humanity, and not those focused on greed,” said DiCaprio, who was accompanied by his mother.

Sadly, though he forgot somebody in his acceptance speech.