Awards anarchy
Golden Globes chaos doesn’t require an in-house crowd.
In the opening moments of a Golden Globes night even more chaotic and confounding than usual, co-host Tina Fey raised a theoretical question: “Could this whole night have been an email?” Only the next three hours would tell.
Well, sure, it could have been an email. But then you wouldn’t have had Chadwick Boseman’s eloquent widow, bringing many to tears as she explained how she could never be as eloquent as her late husband. Or Chloe Zhao, making history as the first woman of Asian descent to win best director (and the first woman since 1984.)
Or 98-year-old Norman Lear, giving the simplest explanation for his longevity: never living or laughing alone. Or Jodie Foster kissing her wife joyfully, eight years after very tentatively coming out on the same telecast.
An overdue reckoning
The evening began under a cloud of embarrassing revelations about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and its lack of inclusion, including the damaging fact that there are no Black members in the 87-person body. Fey and co-host Amy Poehler addressed it early: “Even with stupid things, inclusivity is important.” Winners like Daniel Levy of “Schitt’s Creek” and presenters like Sterling K. Brown referred to it. Fonda made it a theme of her powerful speech accepting the Cecil B. Demille award. And the HFPA made a hasty onstage pledge to change. “We recognize we have our own work to do,” said vice president Helen Hoehne. “We must have Black journalists in our organization.”
“Don’t’ have his words”
The best-actor award to Boseman for “Ma Rainey’s Bottom” had been expected. That did not dull the emotional impact of his victory. His widow, Taylor
Simone Ledward, tearfully accepted in his honor, telling viewers that her husband, who died of colon cancer at 43 before the film was released, “would say something beautiful, something inspiring, something that would amplify that little voice inside of all of us that tells you you can. That tells you to keep going, that calls you back to what you are meant to be doing at this moment in history.” But, she said poignantly, “I don’t have his words.”
Predictable Zoom fails
It was obvious there were going to be awkward Zoom fails. It started early, when the very first winner, Daniel Kaluuya for “Judas and the Black Messiah,” was on mute as he accepted his award, leaving presenter Laura Dern to apologize for technical difficulties. Thankfully, the problem was resolved in time for the actor to speak. Jason Sudeikis, whose charmingly rambling speech (“This is nuts!“) and rumpled hoodie signaled he hadn’t expected to win, finally realized he needed to “wrap this puppy up.” And winner Catherine O’hara (“Schitt’s Creek“) had some perhaps unwelcome help from her husband, whose efforts to provide applause sounds and play-off music on his phone.
Kids, pets bring joy
Still, the virtual acceptances from winners stuck at home had a silver lining: happy kids and cute pets. When Mark Ruffalo won for “I Know This Much is True,” two of his teens could not control their joy enough to stay out of the camera shot. The adorable young daughter of Lee Isaac Chung, writerdirector of the Koreanamerican family drama “Minari,” sat in his lap and hugged him during his acceptance for best foreign language film. “She’s the reason I made this film,” said Chung.
Winner Foster (“The Mauritanian”) also had a family member in her lap: her dog. Also seen: Sarah Paulson’s dog and Emma Corrin’s cat.