All the biggest talking points from the 2019 Golden Globes
Diversity, #TimesUp and representation – Farah Andrews collects the most important moments at the 76th running of the annual awards
It has been 12 months since the 2018 Golden Globes blackout, and at the 2019 ceremony in Beverly Hills, California, it was clear to see how much Hollywood has changed in the past year. Treatment of race, gender and harassment, as well as fair representation, have all become regular talking points, and this year’s Globes were no exception.
Here’s how presenters Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg tackled the biggest conversation points on the night (both successfully and, in one instance, woefully).
1. Oh and Samberg talked about diversity, while Oh made history
There is no doubt that diversity was the main talking point on the night. Oh delivered an incredible speech about representation in her opening monologue.
After a series of “nice” jokes about the stars in the audience – “Your character’s name in Creed is Adonis, and it is apt”, directed at Michael B Jordan, was a highlight – the Grey’s Anatomy star got serious about diversity in Hollywood.
“If I could take a moment here: In all honesty, I said ‘yes’ to the fear of being on this stage tonight because I wanted to be here to look out into this audience and witness this moment of change,” the Canadian actress said.
“And I’m not fooling myself. I’m not fooling myself. Next year could be different. It probably will be. But right now, this moment is real. Trust me, it is real. Because I see you. And I see you. All of these faces of change. And now so will everyone else.”
Oh also made history on the night. Not only was she the first actor of Asian descent to co-host the ceremony, she was also the second actor of Asian descent to win the TV drama leading actress Globe for her role in Killing Eve
– the first since Japanese actress Yoko Shimada for Shogun in 1981.
In her acceptance speech, Oh emotionally thanked her mother and father, in English and Korean. “There are two people here that I’m so grateful that they’re here with me. I’d like to thank my mother and my father,” she said, with a bow. She then added in Korean: “I love you, mum and dad.”
2. Oh reminded everyone of Emma Stone’s whitewashing moment
Although Samberg and Oh didn’t “roast” the audience in the closeto-the-bone style of Ricky Gervais, they did take aim at Hollywood’s unfortunate habit of “whitewashing” Asian roles.
Oh reminded the audience that Emma Stone played an Asian American role in 2015’s Aloha, saying: “[Crazy Rich Asians] is the first studio film with an Asian American lead since Ghost in the
Shell and Aloha.”
To which Stone shouted out from the crowd: “I’m sorry.”
3. The #TimesUp fight continued
The 2018 Golden Globes red carpet was a blackout, in solidarity with the anti-harassment #TimesUp movement. This year, colour returned to the red carpet, but #TimesUp was far from an afterthought.
Many actresses, including Olivia Colman, Laura Dern and Yvonne Strahovski, arrived with a #TimesUp ribbon, by Hollywood stylist and costume designer Arianne Phillips.
Phillips posted a photo of her design on Instagram yesterday, with the caption: “What a difference a year makes.”
Many stars seized the opportunity to mark a year since the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements truly took off.
“I will forever remember last year’s Golden Globes, when we stood together in solidarity to fight for equality, parity, safety and inclusion,” Reese Witherspoon wrote on Instagram before the ceremony. “Good luck to all the nominees tonight. And may we continue to celebrate risk takers in our industry and beyond, who challenge status quo and fight for change.”
Alyssa Milano, an actress who played a key role in the early #MeToo movement, took a moment to reflect on the change in Hollywood in the past 12 months, during a red-carpet interview, saying that a “really wonderful sisterhood has formed” and that women are “really finding our voice through our pain and our collective pain”.
But she also made it clear that the issue of harassment doesn’t begin or end in Hollywood, saying that she is now more concerned with women in less-visible industries – “farmworkers, those in the military, hotel employees” – than women in the public eye.
4. Samberg unwisely poked fun at mental health
Samberg and Oh joked they had been invited to host the awards as the “only two people left in Hollywood who haven’t said anything offensive”. While that was mostly true of their presenting style, many were shocked by Samberg’s joke taking aim at mental health. Introducing Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga with a spoiler-packed one-liner, he said, “He discovered [Lady Gaga’s character] Ally and she discovered him in a garage.” The joke – referring to the tragic ending of A Star Is Born – received an awkward laugh from the audience and prompted outcry online for its insensitivity and for trivialising such a huge issue.