GLOBES FOR HANDMAID’S TALE
Star thanks Margaret Atwood
With a red carpet dyed black by actresses dressed in a colour-co-ordinated statement against sexual harassment and gender inequality, the Golden Globes confronted the post-Harvey Weinstein era with a ceremony at turns protest rally and party, atonement and celebration.
“Good evening ladies and remaining gentlemen,” host Seth Meyers opened at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Meyers, in his first time hosting the Globes, dove straight into material about the sex scandals that have roiled the industry and the “elephant not in the room,” Harvey Weinstein.
The first award, perhaps fittingly, went to one of Hollywood’s most powerful women: Nicole Kidman, for her performance in HBO’s Big Little Lies, a series she and Reese Witherspoon also produced. Montreal-born Jean-Marc Vallée directed several episodes. Kidman chalked up the win to “the power of women.”
Big Little Lies won three acting awards, including supporting actress for Laura Dern. It also won as best TV limited series or movie. Like seven other female stars, Dern walked the red carpet with a women’s rights activist as part of an effort to keep the Globes spotlight trained on sexual harassment. Dern was joined by farmworker advocate Monica Ramirez, Michelle Williams with #MeToo founder Tarana Burke and Meryl Streep with domestic worker advocate Ai-jen Poo.
“May we teach all of our children that speaking out without fear of retribution is our new North Star,” Dern said in accepting her Globe.
Other winners continued the theme of female empowerment. Elisabeth Moss, accepting an award for her performance in The Handmaid’s Tale, dedicated her award to Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, on whose novel the show is based, and the women who came before and after her. The Handmaid’s Tale later added the award for best TV drama series.
Gary Oldman won best actor in a drama film for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, which focuses on the British statesman’s efforts to convince his countrymen to fight the Nazis in the Second World War.
Frances McDormand won as best actress in a drama film for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. McDormand plays the mother seeking justice for her daughter, who was raped and killed, and takes on the small-town police force she doesn’t believe is doing enough to solve the case. The film also won the night’s coveted final prize for best drama — making it a possible front-runner in the upcoming Academy Awards race.
The Globes were a good omen for some other leading Oscar hopefuls. Three Billboards co-star Sam Rockwell won for best supporting actor and writer-director Martin McDonagh won for best screenplay. Also in the mix are Guillermo del Toro’s Cold War-era fantasy The Shape of Water, which won for its score, and Steven Spielberg’s newspaper drama The Post.
Best animated film went to the Pixar release Coco. Allison Janney took best supporting actress in a comedy for the Tonya Harding tale I, Tonya.
Sterling K. Brown won for best drama actor. Brown, the first black man to win the category, thanked This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman.
“You wrote a role for a black man that can only be played by a black man,” Brown said. “I’m being seen for who I am.”
The Globes had long been the stomping grounds of disgraced mogul Weinstein, whose downfall precipitated allegations against James Toback, Kevin Spacey and many others. Weinstein presided over two decades of Globes winners and was well known for his savvy manipulation of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the 89-member group that hands out the Globes.
Sunday night’s black-clad demonstration was promoted by the recently formed Time’s Up, an initiative of hundreds of women in the entertainment industry — including Streep, Williams, Dern and the night’s inspirational Cecil B. DeMille honoree, Oprah Winfrey — who hopes as the first black women to accept the honour, she will have an impact on young girls.
Winfrey spoke about the feelings she had watching Sidney Poitier win the best actor Academy Award in 1964. She likened the pride she felt watching Poitier, the first black man to win the best actor Oscar, to the impact she hoped she could have on young women.
Winfrey also addressed the sexual misconduct scandal, telling those watching “speaking your truth is the most powerful tool you all have.”
She continued: “For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men,” said Winfrey, accepting the award for lifetime achievement.
“But their time is up. Their time is up!”
More than any award handed out Sunday, Winfrey’s moment — one greeted by a rousing, ongoing standing ovation and that left many attendees and viewers in tears — encapsulated the #Me Too mood at an atypically powerful Golden Globes.