Hollywood dons black in rejection of harassment
Winfrey says ‘time is up’ for abusive men at Golden Globes
LOS ANGELES — Hollywood spoke with one voice at the Golden Globes on Sunday to declare war on the film industry’s culture of sexual harassment and abuse, as it kicked off its annual awards season on a rare serious note.
Crime drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was the big winner of the night with four trophies, giving it momentum ahead of the all-important Oscars in March.
But the awards podium played second fiddle at times to the clarion call coming from numerous stars about the need to heal and move forward.
“Speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have,” actress and media powerhouse Oprah Winfrey told the audience at the Beverly Hilton as she accepted a lifetime achievement award.
“For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up!” she said, earning a standing ovation.
The industry’s elite turned the red carpet black for the Globes, eschewing bright colors in a fashionable repudiation of disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein and others ensnared in allegations of misconduct.
And the overall message at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s champagnedrenched annual prize-giving was a call for continued change.
“People are aware now of a power imbalance. It’s led to abuse in our industry . ... It’s everywhere,” Meryl Streep, who was nominated for a Globe for her work in media drama The Post, said on the red carpet.
Seth Meyers, making his debut as Globes host, opened the show with joke after joke about Hollywood’s postWeinstein reckoning.
“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.”
Women directors
Leading the pack by the end of the night was Three Billboards, Martin McDonagh’s searing film about a mother who battles local authorities to solve her daughter’s murder.
It picked up trophies for best drama, screenplay, actress for Frances McDormand and supporting actor for Sam Rockwell.
“The women are not here for the food, they’re here for the work,” McDormand said to applause, noting the “tectonic shift in our industry’s power structure”.
But McDonagh lost out in the directing category to Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, whose fantasy romance The Shape of Water came in as joint runner-up alongside coming-of-age film Lady Bird with two awards each.
There were no nominations at all for female filmmakers, prompting withering remarks from presenters Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain and Barbra Streisand.
“Did I hear it right — I was the only woman to get the best director award. And, you know, that was 1984? That was 34 years ago? Folks, time’s up,” Streisand said of her victory for Yentl.
On the small screen, HBO’s Big Little Lies scooped up a rare trio of acting awards for Nicole Kidman, Alexander Skarsgard and Laura Dern, and another trophy for best limited TV series.
“I hope we can elicit change through the stories we tell and the way we tell them,” said Kidman, who portrayed an abused wife in the show.
Dern urged Hollywood to support survivors of abuse and to promote restorative justice.
“May we teach our children that speaking out without the fear of retribution is our culture’s new North Star,” she said.
May we teach our children that speaking out without the fear of retribution is our culture’s new North Star.” Laura Dern, Hollywood actress