Sober, private, untelevised. If you thought that last year’s Golden Globe Awards were “unconventional,” to say the least, then wait to hear about the 2022 edition.
The day after the set date for this year’s Golden Globes–January 9th–I started seeing articles and videos covering the event, and I wondered how I could have completely missed it. I remember when, during high school, I would wake up at 2 a.m. to watch both the Golden Globes and the Oscars live on the only Italian channel that would air them.
My obsession for awards shows didn’t end there though. Afterward, I used to re-watch the opening monologues and winner announcements over and over. To me, they just seemed extremely entertaining and fun. The best monologue of all time must be Ricky Gervais’s very last appearance at the Globes, when he roasted a room full of celebrities in all under 20 minutes.
Since the pandemic started, however, they have taken on a completely different tone. Last year, both shows had to adapt to a hybrid format to accommodate winners and nominees that were not able to attend.
After this unconventional edition, however, I expected them to make a comeback in grand style this year. I was wrong, but not for the reasons I expected.
Although the healthcare emergency isn’t completely over yet, I was surprised to learn that the Globes were so lowkey this year not for the safety of its attendees, but for a controversy that has absolutely nothing to do with the pandemic: that is, the lack of diversity in the awards jury and nominees, which caused no celebrity to want to attend the event. And by “no celebrity,” I mean that not a single soul showed up.
This could really be a rebuttal of the 2015 #OscarsSoWhite scandal, if it wasn’t for the fact that the 2015 Globes and Oscars did take place despite the general criticism.
Although, compared to past editions of the Globes, this occurrence might represent the end of the annual awards show to some, it might not be as the media makes it to be. I’ll explain.
The first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16th, 1929 and it was attended by 250 people. At the time, the awards–later known simply as Oscars–were given to the winners before the event, which, as I once read somewhere, merely lasted less than half an hour.
Almost a decade later, everything about the Oscars–as well as the Globes–screams one word and one word only: opulence. From the overall set-up of the stage to the attendees’ outfits to the social status of the celebrities themselves, everything that seems to make headlines the day after the event has nothing to do with the art and craft of filmmakers and film workers, and everything to do with political agendas and social statements.
It’s not about honoring film and television anymore, but watching your favorite celebrities show off their salary.
This year, however, it was quite the opposite. Not only celebrities refused to attend, but the media decided to do the same, which is why no one could find the event on any tv channel.
For the first time in a long while, the media really only focused on the winning features and, as it also happens, the many unfair snugs. No mention about which pair of shoes Lady Gaga wore or how hot Benedict Cumberbatch looked–although we all know he would’ve looked great, had he attended.
For the first time, I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything either, because there wasn’t anything to miss in the first place.
Looking at it in perspective, isn’t this private format better than the usual, glittery one? Of course, I hope not every edition is going to be like this from now on, but I truly believe the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, that organizes the event, will take some time to think about these recent occurrences and change the awards show for the better.
After all, the way the first Academy Awards ceremony took place sounds insane today, right? Well, little by little, its organizers started making small changes until it became what it is known for today.
Who knows whether the Globes will bounce back next year with a truly revolutionary format as the result of the social times we live in? Honestly, I truly hope so, and I hope they’ll be able to hook me as they did in the past.
We’ll see if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will take advantage of this year’s Golden Globes fiasco in the 2022 edition of the Oscars.
Art Kills 
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