Golden Globes a sign of Asian inclusion
The Golden Globe
Awards is set to feel like a major evolution from its 2015 broadcast, when comedian
Margaret Cho’s appearance as a North
Korean film journalist who spoke in heavily accented English was slammed by some as awkward and racist.
Cho was the only Asian on stage the entire evening. Sunday’s show will have a decidedly different feel, with Sandra Oh as co-host and the romcom “Crazy Rich Asians” up for two nominations. The recognition feels like a seismic shift for Asians and Asian-Americans in Hollywood after decades of struggling to get starring roles while dealing with stereotypes and “whitewashing.”
The last time the Globes honored an all-Asian film at that level was the 1961 musical “Flower Drum Song,” which was nominated in the same categories as “Crazy Rich Asians”: best comedy or musical and best performance by an actress in a musical or comedy. The Globes has doled out nearly 1,000 film and TV acting trophies in its 76-year history, including for now defunct categories like best juvenile performance and “new star of the year.” Of all those wins, 10 have gone to performers of Asian descent, including Oh.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced that Oh and Andy Samberg will share emcee duties for the ceremony. Oh, who earned a TV supporting actress Globe in 2006 for “Grey’s Anatomy,” will be the Globes’ first ever Asian — not to mention Canadian — host. She is also up for best actress in a television drama for “Killing Eve.” She, Constance Wu and Darren Criss, who is half-Filipino, are the Asian acting nominees this year.
Wu, nominated for “Crazy Rich Asians,” believes the film won Globes recognition in part because so many moviegoers turned it into a blockbuster.
“The fact that Hollywood made this story and people showed up for this story and now it’s being recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press —that shows our country values our story and wants to see more of it,” Wu said after finding out she was nominated.