While Chloe Zhao defined brands as just the second woman and the second Asian to win the award for best director, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made a “cosmetic” commitment to diversify its members.
Thanks to last week’s Los Angeles Times Exhibition and the reaction that followed the complete lack of black members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, diversity was even more important than usual during the 78th annual Golden Globe Awards. How would HFPA handle the controversy during the ceremony and what would the list of winners look like?
The answers were about exactly what would be expected of an electoral body full of ethical controversies that happily existed without a single black member in the past two decades. Three HFPA leaders took the stage and reworked the substance-free declaration they provided the LA Times earlier this week, offering the most superficial of commitments to reform your body:
“We recognize that we have our own work to do,” said Vice President Helen Hoehne of Germany. “As in cinema and television, black representation is vital. We must have black journalists in our organization.”
The chairman of the board, Meher Tatna, from India, agrees. “We must also ensure that everyone from all underrepresented communities has a seat at our table,” said the former president of HFPA.
“This means creating an environment where member diversity is the norm, not an exception,” agreed President Ali Sar of Turkey, without offering further details on how or when the HFPA would do it. “Thank you, and we look forward to a more inclusive future.”
In letters to HFPA and the sponsor of the NBC network issued minutes after the conclusion of the ceremony, Time’s Up President and CEO Tina Tchen criticized the response as “cosmetic” and lacking “awareness of major cultural problems, as well as a long-term commitment to the changing system. “
Co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were equally ill-equipped to address the issues, seeming to scoff at both the HFPA and its detractors. “[Awards shows] are a scam invented by the Big Red Carpet, “said Poehler, while Fey added:” The point is, even with stupid things, inclusion is important, and there are no black members at the Hollywood Foreign Press…. You have to change that. So let’s change that. “
The controversy almost overshadowed some long-awaited milestones in the real results: in addition to winning the night’s grand prize, best drama film, NomadlandChloe Zhao became only the second woman (after Barbra Streisand in 1984) and the first Asian woman to win the best director (previously, Ang Lee was the only Asian driver to receive the award, in 2001 and 2006). Lee Isaac Chung, whose American film Minari was diverted to the foreign language category, he was the other Asian winner of the night. AND United States x Billie Holidaythe debuting protagonist, Andra Day, was the surprise winner of best actress in a dramatic film, becoming only the second non-white woman to win in the category (Whoopi Goldberg was the first, 35 years ago).
When an award organization lacks credibility about the integrity of its voting process and its understanding of true diversity and inclusion, an additional cause is the suspicion that its winners have been chosen on their own merits. When supporting actors Daniel Kaluuya (film) and John Boyega (television) became the first winners of the night, some speculated whether HFPA – whose vote supposedly ended Tuesday, three days after the Times history – really considered them more deserving, or because the organization assumed that giving trophies to black winners was adequate compensation for their long-standing member deficiencies. The pair won praise from more legitimate critics for their work in Judas and the Black Messiah and Small Ax, respectively, but HFPA has a history of inconsistent and questionable taste, including ignoring Judas among other pioneers of the award season led by Black Da 5 Bloods, One night in miami and Black Bottom by Ma Rainey in his nominations for best film. On the other hand, there were white nominees who prevailed in the categories with people of color, to be fair to HFPA (what a thing to write!).
None of the Black winners – which included Soul co-director Kemp Powers and co-composer Jon Batiste, in addition to the last Ma Rainey’s star Chadwick Boseman, whose wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, paid a poignant tribute – mentioned the diversity controversy in her acceptance speeches. Presenters – including those who shared the hashtag #TimesUpGlobes criticizing HFPA last week – also stayed in their scripts, except for These are U.S‘Sterling K. Brown and Susan Kelechi Watson, who cunningly commented, “It’s great to be black – come back – at the Golden Globe. “
Despite the abundance of technical difficulties at the virtual ceremony – someone called the director of the Democratic National Convention, Glenn Weiss! – the Golden Globe parade “the show must go on” with effusive acceptance speeches is an indication that the city remains addicted to golden praises, no matter how dubious the provenance is, artists of color may not yet feel entirely safe in bite the hand that feeds, and the HFPA will probably once again dodge this latest wave of scrutiny.
Reporters gathered in the virtual press room “behind the scenes” seemed equally unconcerned about the HFPA’s membership issues. Until late at night, The MauritanianBest actress winner, Jodie Foster, answered the first question about the controversy, praising HFPA’s response, while noting that she has a nostalgic connection to the organization, having attended Globo since her early teens: ” It seems that HFPA is open to change. “
In fact, it was a trio of white artists – Jane Fonda, Sacha Baron Cohen and Dan Levy, winner of the Cecil B. DeMille Award – who were the only winners to address the need for improvement in diversity and inclusion.
“Thanks to the Hollywood Foreign Press totally white”, Borat Subsequent MoviefilmCohen’s fell in his acceptance speech for best musical / comedy film, while Levy, accepting best musical / comedy series for Schitt’s Creek, addressed the HFPA directly in his comments: “In the spirit of inclusion, I hope that at this time of next year this ceremony will include the true breadth and depth of the industry today.”
After detailing how it was affected by a large number of projects this season from underrepresented artists and / or marginalized communities (including Nomadland, Minari, Judas, Ramy, All In: The struggle for democracy and remarkable snubbing of Globes I can destroy you), Fonda said: “There is a story that we are afraid to see and hear in ourselves in this industry. A story about which voices we respect and raise and which we hang up, who is at the table and who is kept out of the rooms. strive to expand this tent so that everyone can stand up and have a chance to be seen and heard. “
The Golden Globe Awards ceremony is produced by Dick Clark Productions, a division of MRC, which is co-owner of The Hollywood Reporter through a joint venture with Penske Media entitled P-MRC.