From a Barbenheimer face-off to a failed opening monologue
By INDRANIL BASU — arts@theaggie.org
The 81st Golden Globe Awards, one of the most popular American film and television award shows, took place this year on Jan. 7, 2024, at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California and was broadcast live on CBS. It kicked off Hollywood’s awards season for the year, reconvening for the first time since the resolution of twin union strikes that shut down the industry for most of last year. This was also its return to air for the first time after its own ethics, finance and diversity scandal that resulted in the sale of the show, a reconstitution of its voting body and a change of network from NBC to CBS.
This year was marked by historic wins for underrepresented communities at the awards. Lily Gladstone became the first Indigenous American person to win the Globe for best actress in a drama for her performance in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Ali Wong and Steven Yeun won in the best actress in a limited series and best actor in a limited series categories, respectively, for their performances in Netflix’s road rage drama “Beef” (which won best limited series), becoming the first and second actors, respectively, of Asian descent to win in their categories.
FX’s “The Bear” won the Globe for best comedy, while two of its actors, Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White, also won for their performances.
“Oppenheimer” won five Golden Globes out of its eight nominations, including for best drama, best director for Christopher Nolan and best actor in a drama for Cillian Murphy. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” won two categories out of its nine nominations, including for best cinematic and box office achievement (a new category) and best song for “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish.
HBO’s “Succession” was the top television winner with four Golden Globes including best drama, Actress (Sarah Snook), actor (Kieran Culkin) and supporting actor (Matthew Macfadyen). Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” won best movie, comedy or musical. Emma Stone received the Globe for best comedic actress for the film.
Some memorable moments from the awards included America Ferrera and Kevin Costner appreciating each other while presenting. Costner quoted the “It is impossible to be a woman” monologue from “Barbie.” Daniel Kaluuya, Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld did a comic bit that appreciated writers in the industry. Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell had a playful dancing moment while presenting another award.
Comedian Jo Koy’s opening monologue was an overall bomb, making headlines across news platforms for its poor reception. He started blaming the writers and his lack of time for preparation as he dragged on with his set amidst a cold response. His most controversial joke was his remark on “Barbie”: while calling “Oppenheimer” a film based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about The Manhattan Project, he reduced his personal logline of “Barbie” to a movie about “a plastic doll with big boobies.”
There were no honorary awards this year, a category that had given a voice to many iconic people and significant speeches in past years, including Oprah’s #MeToo speech in 2018.
Overall, the winners were “largely supportable, if largely predictable,” according to an article by Vanity Fair. This year’s Golden Globes reached a viewership of 9.4 million and had the highest ratings in years. After this eventful award show, The Emmy Awards took place on Jan. 15 and the Oscars are lined up for March 10. The Golden Globes have set the predictions for “Oppenheimer” to win big at the Oscars.
Written by: Indranil Basu — arts@theaggie.org
