PRIZES& PROTEST
Awards show has political edge as Hollywood reckons with impact of #MeToo movement
“Speaking your truth is the most powerful tool you all have.” OPRAH WINFREY ACCEPTING CECIL B. DEMILLE AWARD
With a red carpet dyed black by actresses dressed in a colourco-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,” opened host Seth Meyers at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Meyers, in his first time hosting the Globes, dived straight into material about the sex scandals that have roiled the industry and the “elephant not in the room,” Harvey Weinstein.
“For the male nominees in the room tonight, this is the first time in three months it won’t be terrifying to hear your name read out loud,” said Meyers.
The first award of the night, 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. She chalked the win up to “the power of women.”
Big Little Lies, which came in the leading TV nominee, won three acting awards, including supporting actress for Laura Dern.
“May we teach all of our children that speaking out without fear of retribution is our new North Star,” said Dern, accepting her Globe. Other winners continued the theme of female empowerment. Rachel Brosnahan won best actress in a TV series musical or comedy for the recently debuted The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Elisabeth Moss, accepting an award for her performance in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, dedicated her award to Margaret Atwood, whose book the show is based on, and the women who came before her and after her. The Handmaid’s Tale later added the award for best dramatic TV series.
“We no longer live in the blank white spaces at the edge of print,” said Moss, referencing Atwood’s prose. “We no longer live in the gaps between the stories. We are the stories in print and we are writing the stories ourselves.”
Hollywood’s awards season is seen as wide open, but the early returns Sunday were good for the revenge comedy Three Bill
boards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which won the prize for best motion picture drama. Sam Rockwell and Frances McDormand won Golden Globes for their performances in the film and writer-director Martin McDonagh won for best screenplay.
Best actor in a comedy or musical went to James Franco for his performance as
The Room filmmaker Tommy Wiseau. Just about everyone, woman and man, celebrity and red-carpet reporter, was dressed in black Sunday, many of them wearing a Time’s Up pin. This Is Us star Chris Sullivan even sported black fingernails. Later, his co-star 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,” said Brown. “I’m being seen for who I am.”
Oprah Winfrey accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement, the first Black woman to receive the honour, saying she hopes it has an impact on young girls watching Sunday’s ceremony. Winfrey also addressed the sexual misconduct scandal roiling Hollywood and beyond, telling those watching “speaking your truth is the most powerful tool you all have.”
With a cutting stare, presenter Natalie Portman followed Winfrey’s speech by introducing, as she said, “the all-male nominees for best director.”