By Taylor Rapalyea
Staff Writer

In an effort to forget the horrors and misogyny that were the 2013 Academy Awards—thank you Seth MacFarlane—Ellen DeGeneres hosted the Oscars ceremony this year. It was a lighthearted affair, complete with a pizza delivery guy, selfies, and Jim Carrey.

The show opened with a few casual jokes, and a less-than-casual jab at Liza Minnelli, and the declaration that Jared Leto was the prettiest person in the audience.

“I’m not gonna say who looks the most beautiful — but it’s clear, it’s Jared Leto,” quipped DeGeneres.

The stars looked beautiful, the pizza delivery guy looked surprisingly calm, and there were no uncomfortable songs about the female body. There was a joke about Jonah Hill’s… er… prosthetic cameo in “Wolf of Wall Street,” and a poke at Jennifer Lawrence’s annual trip (this time on the red carpet, thanks to a cone).

“12 Years a Slave” took home Best Picture, and Lupita Nyong’o was awarded Best Supporting Actress, both honors considered to be huge steps for the traditionally whitewashed awards show. Nyong’o is the sixth black actress to win the award, and the first black African.

In her teary and honest speech, Nyong’o pronounced that, “No matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.”

President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta later tweeted his congratulations and called her “the pride of Africa.” The country has been celebrating her win all weekend.

Matthew McConaughey beat Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor for his role in the biographical drama “Dallas Buyers Club,” and begun his speech with a typical, “alright, alright, alright.” The Internet exploded mildly with condolences for DiCaprio, who has been nominated for four Academy Awards, with the hashtag “#PoorLeo.”

The beautiful and talented Cate Blanchett won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in “Blue Jasmine.” Blanchett did choose to acknowledge, albeit quietly, Woody Allen in her acceptance speech despite his recent highly-publicized controversy.

Equally beautiful Jared Leto won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a trans woman in “Dallas Buyers Club,” a casting decision that was met with outrage from the trans community. Many asked why a male was chosen to play a trans woman instead of a trans actress.

Leto’s speech, one of the first of the evening, was met with a collective “awwww” from Twitter. He thanked his mom, who raised him as a single parent, for encouraging him to believe in his dreams. Later in the evening, he graciously gave his piece of Ellen’s pizza to his mom.

And the tweet heard around the world: DeGeneres recruited Meryl Streep for a selfie to see if they could tweet the most retweeted post ever, and within seconds the photo became packed with stars. Leto, Lawrence, Channing Tatum, Streep, Julia Roberts, DeGeneres, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, Nyong’o, Angelina Jolie, and Nyong’o’s brother squeezed in and essentially (and literally) broke Twitter.

Many critics say that the best part of the show was the fact that Ellen took it to the streets—rather than be restricted by the stage, she chose to linger in the audience and give viewers at home cherished glimpses of the stars themselves.

Also, John Travolta mispronounced Idina Menzel’s name, and now it’s an Internet thing.