The Disaster that is the Golden Globes Nominations
GOLDEN GLOBES - ABC
Let us get this out of the way: the Golden Globes 2019 nominations are a disgrace. Plain and simple. Not because of its overly apparent cheapness or its incestuous behaviour to reward the rich — two reasons which alone should have people up in arms — but film festivals such as Cannes and Venice have stoked controversy with numerous issues surrounding gender equality and lack thereof considering their incredibly poor output of highlighting of female-oriented filmmakers. There is an infamous quote purported from Albert Einstein on the definition of insanity being if one does the same action multiple times and expects different results, such a sentiment could not be more accurate here
For the five directors nominated for Best Director, only one is a person of colour. Of Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, there is one person of colour. Of Best Motion Picture, you guessed it: there is one person of colour. This year’s Golden Globes and the Foreign Press Association have failed to recognise any female directors or female-directed films over three categories and fifteen possible nominations. It will feel like deja-vu for many who had the patience to sit through and witness the debacle of 2018, where the exact controversy occurred in all but the same circumstances, that saw Natalie Portman ruthlessly and quite rightly call them out on their bullshit on the stage while reading the nominations in front of a live audience and millions of people watching on their television.
Portman’s moment of revolt could not have been a louder and prouder moment of defiance against an industry in the midst of serial rapist Weinste*n and the impact of the #MeToo movement. Bizarrely and staggeringly, a year on from this media disaster for Golden Globes shows that nothing has swayed their institutionalised, misogynist thought process. We are back to square one with little to no light at the end of the tunnel.
There will remain comments that will stir up controversy, inciting an online war of words with their sentiments of there not being any films directed by women who were “good” enough to be nominated. A tragic and absurdly narrow-minded opinion in a year that has brought audiences critically and financially acclaimed films such as Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers, Kasi Lemmons’s Harriet, Marielle Heller’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, or Lulu Wang’s The Farewell — the list could go on.
The films mentioned above are intriguing in their examples because not only were they exempt from the Best Picture or Best Director nominations, but they were included in mostly every other category but the ones that bring a distinctive recognition. Recognition not only for the film itself but the many or crew who worked on said feature as well as the numerous small independent companies who keep this realm of cinema survive. In all good faith, last year could somehow, in the vast amount of coincidences, be a one-time thing but to repeat the controversy is another thing entirely. Of course, the same old thing creeps up with some genius pointing out that only five slots available, so how on earth could they fit so many artists in the categories? The answer is simple - add more films to the categories. The academy awards have done it famously to add The Dark Knight due to the controversy of it not getting a nod, so why not have such a controversy here?
There is simply no excuse for the Golden Globes this year to have disappointed and actively disheartened generations of filmmakers waiting in the wings. It is indescribable how damaging this controversy will be in generations to come. Representation is everything, and for young girls to grow up watching this industry repeatedly undermine and ignore them is a slow but assured testament for a disastrous future that will drown itself in self-indulgence. Nevertheless, this is Hollywood. A place where convicted child rapists like Roman Polanski, murderers like John Landis and paedophiles run rampant. This is an industry who reaps its own reward and has never been a fair practitioner of ethical or moral values.
The SAG and Oscar nominations are next. Two titans that have seemingly rectified past mistakes concerning their politics and ego but with one step forward, this industry is seemingly applied to take two steps back. If the Golden Globes does not want to highlight great cinema from women, then you reading this must take it upon yourself to do so. Watch these films, support these women and their art; discuss them in person and online, review them, recommend them. Just imagine what a single sentence of confidence could mean to a generation that is currently under threat from systematic misogyny.
