What Happened at the 78th Golden Globes

Eden Blakemore, Reporter

The 78th Golden Globes happened Sunday, February 28th, and they were a little rocky, to say the least. The only other big awards ceremony to have happened during this COVID age of cinema was the Emmy’s. They were also online and had people standing outside of each nominee’s house to present them the Emmy if they won. The Golden Globes did not go in this direction and decided to just mail the Golden Globe to them after the event. The night was filled with awkward acceptance speeches and historical winners.

Starting with the television categories of the night, The Queens Gambit unsurprisingly won best limited-series and Anya Taylor Joy, who played Beth, won best actress in a limited series. The Crown had the most television wins of the night with 4; Gillian Anderson won best supporting actress, Josh O’Connor won best actor in a drama, Emma Corrin got best actress in a drama, and The Crown ultimately won best drama television series. None of these are too surprising, but many believe Jodie Comer from Killing Eve got snubbed and should have won best actress. The final season of Schitt’s Creek took home 2 Golden Globes; Catherin O’Hara won best actress in a musical or comedy and won best comedy television series. Some other notable wins from the night include Jason Sudeikis in a hoodie winning best actor in a comedy series for Ted Lasso, Mark Ruffalo’s first golden globe for I Know This Much is True, and John Boyega also won his first Golden Globe for his supporting role in Small Axe

Now for the film awards. Taking home both best director and best motion picture drama is Nomadland. Chloé Zhao actually made history as the first Asian woman to win best director at the Golden Globes. Soul unsurprisingly won best animated feature film and best original score. Minari controversially won best foreign film, even though it should not have been in that category. Chadwick Boseman won best actor in a drama film for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and his wife accepted the award. Andra Day won best actress in a drama film for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Rosamund Pike won best actress in a comedy or musical for her role in I Care A lot. Sacha Baron Cohen was nominated for two Golden Globes but only came out of the night with one; best actor in a musical or comedy for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Daniel Kaluuya won his first Golden Globe for best supporting actor for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah. There were some technical difficulties when he was giving his speech. His mic was off for the majority of it, and it led to an extremely awkward silence. 

The Golden Globes this year were not without controversy. Sia’s movie, Music, was nominated for multiple awards despite the appalling portrayal of Autism and the portrayal of a mixed character by a white actress. The movie also has an 8% rating on rotten tomatoes. Emily in Paris is a nominee whose nomination was a surprise for everyone, even those involved in the show. Some writers for the show have spoken about how it should not have been nominated and acknowledged the absence of We May Destroy You, a show undoubtedly deserving of the nomination. Minari also sparked controversy when it was nominated in the Foreign Film category because the majority of it is spoken in Korean, despite the fact that it is a movie about Americans and takes place in America. Among this controversy, there are the questionable voters for the Golden Globes, all of whom are white. 

The Golden Globes has been the butt of many jokes over the years, and this year provides a perfect example of why. With a lack of diversity behind the scenes, people accepting awards in sweatshirts, and the nomination of a movie with rotten tomatoes score in the single digits, the Golden Globes truly is the worst of the award shows.