Sundays Oscars loom in the shadow of Donald Trump s fledgling presidency. As with every awards show this year, we can expect copious equal-rights diatribes mounted in resistance to the regressive legislation and callow disregard for tradition that has defined the Trump administrations debut.

But before arriving at the annual ritual, we will have already seen one of the most politically driven Best Picture debates unfurl in the media. This time, its personal.

Perhaps more than ever, the Best Picture contest seems to double as a referendum on our cultures conscience. Its bigger than the Oscars, just as Beyonc losing Album of the Year to Adele was bigger than the Grammys . If movies are statements about the world around us, then one purpose of the Academy Awards is to adjudicate the years best cinematic manifestos. Thats complicated when titles from Obamas America are being feted in Trumps America.

Its especially complicated when considering the Oscars thorny political backdrop. Throughout its 89-year history, the event has, after all, become a shrine to Hollywoods liberal values even when the movies themselves arent explicitly political.

In 2014, 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen ended his Best Picture acceptance speech by dedicating the award to all the people who have endured slavery and the 21 million people who still suffer slavery today. He then turned to the cast and crew surrounding him onstage and leapt into the air enthusiastically.

In 2016, Spotlight producer Michael Sugar addressed his Best Picture acceptance speech to Pope Francis, saying he hopes the recognition will inspire a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican. He then turned and gave Michael Keaton a bear hug.

In both cases, it would have been surprising not to hear rallying cries related to the human-rights transgressions depicted in these films.