Even in these political times, Jimmy Kimmel is the perfect host for the Oscars

On March 4, Jimmy Kimmel will host the 90th Academy Awards. Best case scenario, everyone will be talking about the night’s biggest winners and their speeches the following morning, and the late night talk show host will be nothing but an afterthought. If last year’s festivities are any indication, the chances of that happening are high.

It's understandable to feel uneasy about the Oscars' choice for master of ceremonies. Kimmel, after all, is more of the same – the biggest requirements to host are apparently being white, male, and have your own late night talk show (See: Jon Stewart, Bob Hope, Johnny Carson). But what people forget is that the role of the host isn't to steal the show, it's to make sure that the event moves on nice and smoothly. They're not the main attraction. After the initial monologue, their whole job becomes making a quick quip here and there before introducing the next set of presenters. That's it.

Granted, we live in polarizing political times. The country has never been more divided, a dicey situation if you're in front of a camera that's broadcasting to millions of people last year. But that was also true of last year; the 2017 ceremony took place just weeks after Donald Trump became president. And how did Jimmy Kimmel handle it? By knowing his limitations.

“People have been telling me, 'It's time to bring everyone together. You need to say something to unite us.' Let's just get something straight off the top, I'm not – I can't do that," Kimmel announced during his opening monologue. Rather than making a political statement, he was forthcoming with his limitations, and chose to do what he does best, which is to roast people that either deserve it or can handle it. His humor, at least that night, punched up.

"There's only one 'Braveheart' in this room and he's not going to unite us either," he added, poking fun of Mel Gibson and his conservative views before moving on to Matt Damon and his "Chinese ponytail movie." ("The Great Wall," which was not only panned, was also heavily criticized for white-washing with its casting choices, a barb that should have been felt by much of the Academy's members in attendance.)

To further understand why Kimmel is such a solid choice to host the Oscars, one only needs to look at Seth MacFarlane's atrocious 2013 performance in the same role. MacFarlane offers a perfect counterpoint because like Kimmel, he made his name through crude comedy, mostly in the form of the ever popular "Family Guy" and "American Dad" (In Jimmy Kimmel's case, it was through "The Man Show"). That type of humor reared its ugly head that very night during the opening monologue with the song “We Saw Your Boobs,” an atrocious and unfunny bit that felt like the Mr. Skin website in the form of a Broadway song, thereby proving that a passion for theater and musicals does not make one less sophomoric. In contrast, Jimmy Kimmel made fun of Meryl Streep in a way that came across as charming before redirecting his laughing audience to give the actress a standing ovation. He's come a long way since the days of the Juggy Dancers.

Whether Jimmy Kimmel will get political at the Oscars is anyone's guess. On the one hand, he's made headlines and earned props recently for leveraging his platform to raise awareness to the Children's Health Insurance Program, the federal program that provides healthcare to low income kids that was under threat because of bipartisan divisions (it would later get funding for ten years after Congress ended the latest government shut down). Then again, the late night talk show host chose to stay quiet on the Harvey Weinstein scandal in the midst of his political awakening, claiming that he wasn’t America’s moral compass. Who's to say what's going to happen? If the Oscars do get political, by the way, it’ll likely be because of someone holding a golden statue. Oscar winners using their making politically charged comments while at the podium is as much of a tradition as the orchestra cutting a speech short.

Jimmy Kimmel isn't the most woke choice to host the Oscars, but he doesn't have to be. All he has to do to be successful is to pass the mic and not trip over himself. The bar may be that low, but based on last year, at least we know Kimmel is more than capable of clearing it.