A follow-up to Golden Globes: Some things to know
It was a night of passionate speeches, weird wins and lots of commentary about the current culture of Hollywood. Here are 15 things you need to know about Sunday night’s Golden Globe Awards.
Seth Meyers’s monologue
The NBC late-night star had a challenging role as host, balancing comedy with the horrific sexual harassment allegations that have been pouring out of Hollywood. So he went after everyone and everything, from Harvey Weinstein (“Don’t worry, he’ll be back in 20 years when he becomes the first person ever booed during the In Memoriam”) to Woody Allen (“When I first heard about a film where a naive young woman falls in love with a disgusting sea monster, I thought, ‘Oh, man, not another Woody Allen movie’”).
Oprah Winfrey’s speech
The talk show queen and business mogul won the Cecil B. DeMille Award — essentially a lifetime achievement prize — and delivered a truly stirring address to the audience. (It immediately kicked off some “Oprah for president” memes.)
“A new day is on the horizon,” she said. “And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, are fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say ‘me too’ again.”
Natalie Portman’s introduction
Ron Howard and Portman had the unenviable task of following up Oprah’s stirring speech as they announced the best director category. Portman didn’t back down from the challenge.
“Here are the all-male nominees,”
she said, before they read the names. Indeed, all five nominees were men (Guillermo del Toro won for “The Shape of Water”) — but it still earned some gasps from the crowd.
The mere presence of Oprah
Oprah had the best seat in the house — the chair at the center table in the front of the room — and some winners became a bit frazzled during their acceptance speeches as she was directly in their line of sight.
“Oprah!” Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”) boomed at the top of his speech.
“Thank you to Ken and my entire team, to Carol — hi, Oprah,” said Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), interrupting herself.
Sterling K. Brown’s speech
Brown has spent a lot of time on award-show stages in the last year, thanks to his emotional role on “This Is Us” as a man bonding with his biological father, and for his incredible portrayal of prosecutor Chris Darden on “The People v. O.J. Simpson.” As he picked up the trophy for best actor in a TV drama, he proved he’s one of the most inspiring speakers in the game, as he got personal once again: “Throughout the majority of my career, I’ve benefited from colorblind casting, which means, you know what, ‘Hey, let’s throw a brother in this role, right?’ ... then (‘This Is Us’ creator) Dan Fogelman, you wrote a role for a black man. Like, that could only be played by a black man,” Brown said. “And so what I appreciate so much about this thing is that I’ve been seen for who I am and being appreciated for who I am. And it makes it that much more difficult to dismiss me or dismiss anybody who looks like me.”
Nicole Kidman’s speech
Similar to the Emmys, Kidman raised awareness of domestic violence when she accepted her prize for best actress in a limited series or TV movie for HBO’s “Big Little Lies.” Her character, a lawyer-turned-housewife, is in an abusive relationship with her husband, played by Alexander Skarsgard.
“This character that I played represents something that is the center of our conversation right now: abuse. I do believe, and I hope, we can elicit change through the stories we tell and the way we tell them. Let’s keep the conversation alive,” she said.
Allison Janney wore a parrot
In “I, Tonya,” Janney plays LaVona Golden, Tonya Harding’s abusive, chain-smoking mother who has a bird on her shoulder for much of the film. When she arrived to present a clip of “I, Tonya,” nominated for best drama, Janney channeled her character.
Frances McDormand’s weirdly bleeped speech
The censors got pretty nervous when McDormand accepted the trophy for best actress in a motion picture, drama, for her role in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” She started to thank Fox Searchlight — and was bleeped. (People on Twitter mused if someone thought she said a different word that started with the letter “f.”) Then she said a modified version of a curse word, and the censor cut off her next sentence. Then, the censor kicked into gear once more when McDormand said the phrase “tectonic shift.” No clue about that one.
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won best comedy and comedy actress
The Globes voters love to pick a relatively new show that makes the TV viewing audience go “huh?” Sure enough, this year the honor went to Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” about a housewife in the late 1950s who turns to stand-up comedy after she splits with her husband. It won best TV comedy and its star, Rachel Brosnahan, won best actress in a TV comedy. (Disclosure: Amazon founder Jeffrey P. Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)