TOO WEAK TO BE WOKE
Men had little to say ... and it hasn’t gone unnoticed
The men showed up Sunday, as they often do to awards shows, dressed in black suits and tuxedos. But this time the colour was a symbol of solidarity for women facing sexual harassment and discrimination. Some men also wore Time’s Up lapel pins — showing support for the initiative some Hollywood women launched to combat sexual harassment and abuse in their industry and elsewhere.
But for the most part, the men did not speak about the symbols they wore. That job fell almost entirely to women.
This year’s Golden Globes was a reflection of Hollywood’s ongoing mass exorcism of the men who’ve sexually harassed and assaulted women, a movement that’s spread from the downfall of Harvey Weinstein to other major industries. And while the show reflected the power of this moment, it also reflected some of its problems. Namely, that the burden of fighting sexual harassment and abuse continues to fall upon women.
Seth Meyers’ monologue was almost entirely about the #MeToo moment, from noting that it was kind of weird for a man to host the awards this year to joking that Weinstein will be back at the Globes “in 20 years, when he becomes the first person ever booed during the in memoriam.” Few men followed his lead. Justin Timberlake proudly showed off his Time’s Up pin in a tweet with the hashtag #whywewearblack. But instead of explaining why, he used the rest of the tweet to comment on wife Jessica Biel: “Here we come!! And DAMN, my wife is hot! #TIMESUP #whywewearblack.”
The men who won awards largely skipped the topic altogether in their acceptance speeches, perhaps feeling their pins and tuxes were enough. James Franco, Ewan McGregor, Guillermo del Toro, Aziz Ansari and Sam Rockwell were among the winners who avoided the movement that otherwise dominated the evening.
Gary Oldman said “words and actions can change the world, and boy oh boy, does it need some changing,” a general sentiment that could apply to sexual harassment and abuse. Bruce Miller, executive producer of The Handmaid’s Tale, referenced the topic of the show that gave him the award. “To all the people in this room and this country and this world who do everything they can to stop The Handmaid’s Tale from becoming real,” he said, “keep doing that.”
Rockwell was asked what else men can do to create longlasting change in his industry, but stumbled in his response. “I don’t really know the answer to that. But I suppose, I think really the issue is bullying. I think people have to stop being bullies.”
Meanwhile, many of the women who won used their time on stage to speak about gender equality, giving the show the bulk of its most inspiring moments. “Wow. The power of women,” Nicole Kidman said, accepting her award for Big Little Lies. “I do believe, and I hope, we can elicit change through the stories we tell and the way we tell them.”
Oprah Winfrey, the first black woman to win the Cecil B. de Mille Award, gave a powerful acceptance speech that brought the audience to its feet.
The conversation extended to the red carpet, where many A-listers part of Time’s Up brought activists as their dates. Michelle Williams attended the show with Tarana Burke, the woman who founded the #MeToo movement in 2006. In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Williams repeatedly turned the conversation to Burke and her work, even as Seacrest tried to turn the conversation to Williams and her nomination.
“Really, the most exciting thing is that I thought I would have to raise my daughter to protect herself in a dangerous world,” Williams said, when Seacrest brought up the excitement of her nomination.