NEW YORK 鈥� The Golden Globes have always been the less serious stop en route to the Academy Awards 鈥� a boozy, bubbly awards show put on by a little-known group with sometimes confounding taste. But this year, a funny thing has happened: The Golden Globes mean something.
The 75th Golden Globes, to be presented in Beverly Hills, California, tonight (televised on NBC and CTV), will be the most prominent and public display yet for the 鈥淢eToo鈥� movement that has swept through Hollywood and left a trail of disgraced men in its wake. What has long been, first and foremost, a star-studded primetime party might tonight take on the tenor of a protest rally.
Out of solidarity with the victims of sexual harassment and assault, many women have said they will be dressing in black for the Globes. It鈥檚 a plan that, on the red carpet and on the stage, will ensure the spotlight remains on the film industry鈥檚 endemic gender imbalances.
鈥淭hat will be really powerful,鈥� Allison Janney, a supporting actress nominee for the Tonya Harding tale I, Tonya, said this week. 鈥淚 will be in a black dress and be proud to be standing there with the other actresses.鈥�
The Globes have traditionally been a celebration, a good time and, frequently, a punchline. But they have had their political high points as well, such as last year鈥檚 speech by Meryl Streep, the Cecil B. DeMille recipient for lifetime achievement. She spoke forcefully against then U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, who the next morning responded that Streep was 鈥渙verrated.鈥�
This year鈥檚 recipient is Oprah Winfrey, who called the fallout following the allegations against Harvey Weinstein 鈥渁 watershed moment鈥� for women.
Winfrey is among the hundreds of women in the entertainment industry who have banded together to form Time鈥檚 Up, an initiative to advocate for gender equality among studio and talent-agency executives. It has also created a $14-million US legal fund for victims of sexual harassment. Time鈥檚 Up 鈥� whose members include many Globes attendees, including Reese Witherspoon, Gal Gadot and Emma Stone 鈥� unveiled itself Monday with full-page newspaper ads. But already, there is fresh fodder for its cause. The University of Southern California鈥檚 Annenberg Inclusion Initiative released its latest findings Thursday on diversity in directing. By examining the top 100 films of 2017 in the box office, researchers found that just 7.3 per cent of the movies were directed by women. That鈥檚 an increase from 4.2 per cent the year before, but still below the decade-ago high point.
鈥淒iversity in the director鈥檚 chair is virtually nonexistent, and gender in the executive ranks of major companies remains grossly imbalanced,鈥� the study concluded.
That lack of change will be on display Sunday, too, where five men will compete for best director, despite several potential nominees in Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird), Dee Rees (Mudbound) and Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman). The category will be much watched when Oscar nominations are announced Jan. 23.
The Globes are starting to see some of the same criticisms on diversity that have trailed the Academy Awards in recent years. But unlike the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has revamped its 6,000-plus membership to make its ranks more inclusive, the same pressure
hasn鈥檛 been applied to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization of about 90 largely unknown foreign journalists.
But the HFPA鈥檚 quirks have drawn increased scrutiny, including this year鈥檚 oversight of one of 2017鈥檚 most acclaimed comedies, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon鈥檚 interracial rom-com The Big Sick. Also snubbed was Girls Trip breakout star Tiffany Haddish. Her co-star Jada Pinkett Smith last month took HFPA members to task for not taking Girls Trip seriously for its awards.
And then there鈥檚 the choice to slot in Jordan Peele鈥檚 Get Out as a comedy, for the film and star Daniel Kaluuya. That provoked the Globes鈥� largest backlash, and helped make Get Out the most tweeted-about nominee in the two weeks after nominations were announced in December, Twitter said Thursday.
Get Out is one of the favourites in the mix on Sunday, along with Guillermo del Toro鈥檚 The Shape of Water, which led all films with seven nods. Close behind is Steven Spielberg鈥檚 The Post and Martin McDonaugh鈥檚 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, both with six nominations. One wildcard is Ridley Scott鈥檚 J. Paul Getty drama All the Money in the World, which landed three nominations, including one for Christopher Plummer. His performance was inserted at the last minute to replace Kevin Spacey, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by several men.
The top TV contenders are female-led dramas: HBO鈥檚 Big Little Lies, which Witherspoon stars in and produced, and the FX anthology series Feud: Bette and Joan.
More than ever, though, the Globes seem to be worth arguing about. All of the turmoil could make Seth Meyers鈥� hosting gig a little trickier. Meyers will follow his late-night partner, Jimmy Fallon, whose Globes broadcast last year was watched by 20 million viewers on NBC, an eight per cent increase.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want this night to be a session where we鈥檙e just scolding everything that happened because it is really important for us to remember that great movies came out of this year,鈥� Meyers said. 鈥淎 lot of people 鈥� worked really hard in environments that were not that conducive to working really hard. So the goal is to have people have a wonderful night and an enjoyable party in a year which everyone deserves it.鈥�
