There are a few elements of the Golden Globes that, while relevant to only people in Los Angeles and the wider entertainment industry, that explain the show’s seemingly lasting appeal to the town’s starriest names. Mostly, it’s often billed as LA’s drunkest night (or, as last night’s show attempted to re-brand it, “Hollywood’s biggest party”) due to the open bar in the back of the auditorium.
That’s always been the grin-and-bear-it aspect of the awards show at its height: suffer through courting favor with the often offbeat and invasive former Hollywood Foreign Press Association to gain access to a genuinely fun night on the town. (The after-parties used to all take place onsite at the Beverly Hilton, allowing attendees to start the night at the rooftop celebrating one studio, head down to a ballroom celebrating another, and end the night by the pool at the organization’s official after-party.)
The trophies themselves? Almost a consolation prize, one that can help market select dramas, musicals, and comedies as must-sees in theaters before the Oscars, rather than serving as a good barometer as to where Academy voters’ heads are at.
In recent years, the awards body came under fire for its conduct and lack of diversity, faced a couple of ownership changes (resulting in the dissolution of the HFPA), and found a new network home at CBS. The upshot: it seems as if the Golden Globes has gained some legitimacy back, but at what cost?
Ballooning from 90-odd members to a more diverse 300 have made the Golden Globes potentially a better bellwether for the Oscars, as both voting bodies have become increasingly international in recent years.
In the ballroom on Sunday night, seeing Justine Triet and Arthur Harari win Best Screenplay for their film “Anatomy of a Fall” — even over some heavy hitters like “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” — was a key moment. It was the very moment the Neon film needed, if only to show it will still have plenty chances at awards this year, despite the Palme d’Or winner not being chosen as France’s submission for Best International Feature Film.
As the film collected Best Non-English Language Movie as well, there were whispers in the room that Sandra Hüller could maybe even pull off an upset and win Best Actress in a Drama (instead, “Killers of the Flower Moon” star Lily Gladstone became the first Indigenous person to receive that award).
As the wins rolled in, they seemed to actually signal where the Oscars and the Emmys (uniquely scheduled after the Globes this year, due to the WGA and SAG strikes) are headed. This was not the quirky Golden Globes of the past that gave Aaron Taylor-Johnson a Best Supporting Actor win for “Nocturnal Animals” or “Mozart in the Jungle” their Best TV Series — Musical or Comedy trophy.
Talking to longer-term Golden Globes voters over the weekend, there is some pride in their nominations now making room for performers like Finnish “Fallen Leaves” star Alma Pöysti, and the increase in transparency has made them feel more well-founded. But with 300 members, there is no more time to meet every month. There is less drama behind the scenes, because the Globes voters don’t get to communicate with each other the same way they used to.
The pro of that? It’s obvious: they are avoiding more controversy. But it does feel like these changes have sanded off the group’s edges and more quirky picks. It’s boring.
The less said about the actual telecast, the better. Walking into the Beverly Hilton on Sunday evening, it was clear things were already off to a rough start, thanks to a last minute rollout of tickets, plus a change to seating norms that pushed talent to the front, and everyone else (even studio executives) to the back of the ballroom. What may have played well on TV (and, seemingly, not even then) did not play at all to the in-house audience. If there were any funny jokes salvaged from Jo Koy’s ill-fated monologue, most attendees could not hear them, as it didn’t sound like the microphones were on at all.
The two moments that got the most applause were “The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri making sure to emphasize her thank you to her “agents and managers’ assistants” in a way that the whole room took notice of, plus Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig pulling off a winning bit with music that cued in attendees to the fact that something interesting was happening onstage.
It didn’t hurt that Ferrell added the line, “the Golden Globes have not changed!,” which spoke to some of the frustration people were feeling during the show. Looking straight at a stage where presenters are purposely in profile so the cameras can get a different angle of the room felt awkward. Afterward, it did not seem like Glenn Weiss, the director of the telecast who the Golden Globes triumphantly poached from the Academy Awards, was the most happy about the show’s end result.
In terms of parties, the place to be was Universal’s celebration, which hosted both the Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy winner Paul Giamatti and the Best Actor in a Drama winner Cillian Murphy, and Supporting Actress and Actor winners Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Robert Downey Jr. Focus Features’ comedy “The Holdovers” is famously a three-hander, so really only the aforementioned winners, plus breakout star Dominic Sessa and director Alexander Payne were on hand to represent. But “Oppenheimer,” the biggest winner at the Globes, showed up and showed out in full force, with co-stars all the way from Emily Blunt to Jack Quaid and Josh Peck joining their elusive auteur Christopher Nolan in merriment.
It also happened to be the only studio besides Netflix throwing a party that night, both offsite from the awards show, serving as another reminder of one of the biggest past appeals of the Golden Globes this year’s attendees did not get to experience. It’s not so fun anymore, either in the ballroom or freed from its clutches.
Has the Golden Globes changed? This year, the show did an amazing job of setting the tone of this awards season, but in doing so, lost the very eccentricities that made it an enduring event for so long. What’s the point?
The 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards were held Sunday, January 7 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. They aired on CBS and streamed via Paramount+. Dick Clark Productions, which owns and produces the Golden Globes, is a Penske Media company. PMC is also IndieWire’s parent company.