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Peter Jackson holds up his oscar during his acceptance speech for Best Director for “The Lo

While most people watch the Oscars to see who wins and then zone out during acceptance speeches, perhaps the most interesting thing about the Academy Awards on Sunday night was the very thing which viewers usually talk over.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” was predictably the big winner, coming away with 11 awards. Among other winners were “Mystic River,” “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” and ... middle school. The films won two awards each, and two people expressed thanks for events occurring during the golden age of puberty.

“I wrote it in a note to you in the eighth grade, and now I want to say it to you in front of a billion people: I love you,” said Andrew Stanton to his wife after winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film for “Finding Nemo.”

After winning for Best Costume Design for “The Lord of the Rings” Ngila Dickson told a story about giving his eventual wife two dead rats as a present when he was 13. (Coincidentally, best actress nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes is 13.)

In a year in when there were more chances to make political comments than there were Oscars to give to “The Lord of the Rings,” only Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Errol Morris made any mention of politics, and each was relatively mute at that. Robbins, who won Best Supporting Actor for his role in ‘‘Mystic River” referred to abuse victims. Penn, who won the Best Actor award for his role in the same film, joked about the government not finding any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Only Morris tried to make a connection between his film, “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara,” and national political issues. And even then, he was vague.

“If people can stop and think and reflect on some of the ideas in this movie, perhaps some damn good will come of it,” he said.

Host Billy Crystal did refer to politics and political figures, but always jokingly. During an opening montage Crystal was inserted into scenes from the films nominated for Best Picture, an Oliphaunt, an elephant-like figure from “The Lord of the Rings,” stomped on Michael Moore as he made his “fictitious war” speech from last year’s Oscars. Crystal also joked about Bush’s experience in the Texas National Guard, and quipped that Donald Rumsfeld’s favorite movie of last year was “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.”

Still, the show seemed to be marked by the lack of politics, controversy or drama rather than their presence.

Rivaled only by Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson playing off the event’s strict dress code, Jack Black and Will Ferrell provided the funniest moment of the evening by singing lyrics to the music played when speeches go on too long. Both jokes made light of Academy traditions, not current events of the year.

There were few upsets as far as the awards themselves: Penn and Robbins’ oscars were predictable and favorites Charlize Theron and Renee Zellweger won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.

And by making the Oscar show less dramatic, the absence of political commentary highlighted the success of “The Lord of the Rings.”

Impromptu jokes related almost exclusively to J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy.

“It’s now official,” Crystal joked only about two-thirds of the way through the Awards ceremony. “There is nobody left in New Zealand left to thank.”

After honoring the trilogy’s conclusion, next year will have to be different.