Women take center stage at powerful Globes ceremony

US - The Golden Globes delivered a powerful, concerted message about and from women, addressing sexual harassment and gender inequity. Yet they also highlighted the at-times awkward challenge of tackling such sobering issues within an award-show format.

NBC’s red-carpet hosts insisted even before the show began that the Globes still possessed a celebratory feel, despite the sexual-harassment shadow that hung over an event where accused predator Harvey Weinstein once held sway. Yet strictly as a TV show, the telecast struggled to find the proper balance, delivering an anthem-like statement from its female winners while experiencing lapses in pacing, entertainment and the lighter moments that tend to punctuate such affairs. Seth Meyers, who hosted the ceremony, certainly set just the right tone in his opening monologue one that spent far more time on the harassment issue than national politics, although President Trump, naturally, didn’t come away unscathed.

Still, the host occupied a minimal role thereafter, while the many passionate speeches highlighted by Oprah Winfrey’s stirring, emotional showstopper actually disrupted the logistical flow of the show. That’s because recipients were allowed to go on in the early going, which would be fine, if the producers didn’t subsequently race through the presentation to avoid running past the allotted time. The Globes have a reputation as a loose, unpredictable affair, but the winners and speeches dovetailed so neatly with the evening’s unofficial theme as to have felt virtually scripted.

(CNN.com)