After a year of turmoil, division and anguish for many, people don't want to honor films with depressing subject matters. They don't want to hear it. Instead, they choose a bittersweet musical that voices themes of hopes and dreams. Simple as that.

I think you're right. The worst presidential election of all times leads to the highest acclaimed movie of all times.

Kind of how Casablanca was so loved on release because of the WWII context.

Casablanca was kind of a downer, though, and dealt with an ongoing current event as opposed to being escapism, so its appeal was sort of the opposite of La La Land. It would be like if someone did a love story set in the midst of an ISIS occupation somewhere today.

LA LA LAND IS A DEPRESSING FILM ACTUALLYY.

Yeah, or it could be that it's also a genuinely great film.

Oh I'm not disputing that. But what I thought was going to be a competitive awards season doesn't look that way right now. Tonight was a rout.

Maybe. But I wouldn't count Moonlight out just yet. The last two Best Picture winners didn't get top prizes at the Golden Globes either.

A simpler reason might be that the AMPAS loves self-referential films that celebrate Hollywood (see: The Artist, Argo).

This is as true as the OP's point. And let's not forget *Hugo which didn't win but got several noms. Hollywood does love itself and it loves films that love it.

But I wouldn't count Moonlight or Manchester by the Sea out of the race just yet either. Being too popular can result in a backlash, for one thing.

*Ok so Georges Méliès wasn't Hollywood, but it's still a movie about movies that carries an overall positive, uplifting message. Best Foreign Film winner Cinema paradise would be another example I think. There are probably dozens if we want to go back to 1927.