The 78th annual Golden Globes was a bloated, glitchy, nervous wreck.
Numerous technical glitches were to be found in this mostly-virtual ceremony celebrating the “best and brightest” of movies and television. For an organization worth millions, you’d think the the Hollywood Foreign Press (HFPA) would have made sure to check if winner Daniel Kaluuya’s mic was on mute or told Catherine O’Hara’s husband not to use his phone, albeit jokingly, during her acceptance speech. Also, did Tracey Morgan pronounce the Animated winner as “Saul” instead of “Soul”?
Already steeped in anger from social media heavyweights over the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s lack of Black members, Sunday night’s bicoastal ceremony hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler felt like a three-hour apology from the HFPA, one that absolutely nobody accepted.
At some point during the show, HFPA boss Ali Sar stood onstage with past president Meher Tatna and VP Helen Hoehne to address the anger: “Black representation is vital, we must have Black journalists in our organization,” Hoehne said “Thank you, and we look forward to a more inclusive future.”
This apology and promise for better diversity within the group was compounded by the night’s first of many mentions of the HFPA donating $2 million to Feeding America. Suffice to say, the desperation to repent by the HFPA felt embarrassing and pathetic. It didn’t help that you had presenters and winners continuously taking potshots at them all throughout the night.
“This Is Us” star Sterling K. Brown joked “it’s great to be Black at the Golden Globes — back at the Golden Globes.” Ha. Jane Fonda, accepting a lifetime achievement award, condemned those “who are kept out of the rooms where decisions are made” Meanwhile, Sacha Baron Cohen urged more diversity and inclusion in both of his acceptance speeches. There were many more.
And yet, “We all know awards shows are stupid,” quipped Tina Fey, trying to lighten up the Uber-politicized mood that was emerging on this night. One in which the HFPA were being sent to the guillotine and were horrified by the cataclysmic shitshow that was reigning on their heads.
And so, this absolutely terrified voting body succumbed to the mob, scared to be canceled into oblivion by the torch-carrying wokesters. The result was predictable: Chadwick Boseman, Andra Day, Daniel Kaluuya, Chloe Zhao and Minari all winning the evening’s top categories.
This was the HFPA proclaiming “Just because we are an all-white voting body does not mean we are not woke. We get it. Please understand this. Because we do.”
However, if one were to take a step back from all this hysteria they would realize that the HFPA is inclusive by nature. Once jokingly referred to as the United Nations of Hollywood, its members come from all over the world. Asian, Indian, Arab, Italian. They’re not all white. As Deydou on Hollywood Elsewhere mentioned, “the fact that there’s no black member doesn’t mean there isn’t a person of color.” The HFPA membership does not represent the american population, they are foreign journalists working in California.
Keep in mind that this ridiculous controversy, and awards show, is happening in the middle of a pandemic, where more important issues need to be raised and an outrageous number of people have lost their jobs, and, even some, their own livelihoods, raise d’être. Being enraged by a Foreign organization not having black members is as 2020 as it gets. The depressing part is that it is 2021 and, judging by last night’s pathetic Hollywood jerk-off session, awards shows are as obsolete as they’ve ever been.
Zeller’s feature debut, “The Father,” was an acclaimed and Oscar-winning film. Many believe he struck out with his sophomore effort, 2022’s critically maligned “The Son.” This is another miss.