Watching the Golden Globes in L.A. with a gaggle of TV critics here is an aberrant experience. Cynicism abounds. Guffaws erupt. Critics have favourites and root for them openly when they travel in packs and huddle.
Aberrant describes this year's Globes too. Always a bit bizarre, but known for its freewheeling sense of fun, the Globes were, well, shaded by the ever-evolving #MeToo movement and the related Time's Up sexual harassment prevention initiative. Women's rights activists walked the red carpet alongside actresses and those actresses wore black.
Now you could say that black is the colour of silence and mourning and red is the color of rage and strength, but it's hard to be cynical about the movement of the gesture. Here in the land of make-believe where made-up stories are the currency, everything is fraught right now. But would the fun sensibility be entirely missing from the glam event, the frock opera that features booze and usually has unpredictable shenanigans?
Read more: At this year's Golden Globes, a tale of solidarity with #MeToo
As host, Seth Meyers had a daunting mandate – hired to make wisecracks and entertain but handle an issue that's not a laughing matter. In recent weeks, people who have made the wrong kind of wisecrack have been scorned if not outright vilified. Micro and macro aggressions are under the microscope.
"Good evening ladies and remaining gentlemen," Myers started and took deft swipes at Kevin Spacey and others. With this, "For the males in the room, this is the first time in three months it won't be terrifying to have your name read aloud," he corralled the room and got it on his side.
The first award, Best Actress in a Limited Series, set the tone when Nicole Kidman won, deservedly, for her role as the self-hating, abused wife in HBO's Big Little Lies. In terms of categories and the bestowing of awards for achievement, the Golden Globes' TV categories are eccentric to the point of being bizarre. Often, nominations and wins are puzzlers.
The Handmaid's Tale and Big Little Lies dominated the Emmys and, given the quality of both productions a repeat seemed likely. In the acting categories, Kidman's win was followed inevitably by Elisabeth Moss winning for Handmaid's Tale. And she spent time quoting Margaret Atwood on the marginalization of women. That's how much things have shifted – Atwood quoted extravagantly and on-point at the Golden Globes. The Best Drama award going to Handmaid's Tale only confirmed the existence of a cultural shift.
In Best Comedy or Musical, a strange category for TV in the first place, there was the possibility of upset, as per the Golden Globes recent tradition. Rookie shows with freshness tend to win, boosting the show and careers. That tradition meant that Will & Grace, (which has zero wins in 27 nominations during its original run) Black-ish and Master of None were outsiders. The two favorites to win the hearts of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association voters were The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and SMILF. Mrs. Maisel (a series only available on Amazon in the U.S. and Canada) won, of course.
Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture made for Television deservedly went to Ewan McGregor for his dual work as two brothers in FX's Fargo. (That got cheers here.) McGregor thanked his co-star and partner Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and acknowledged his wife of 22 years, from whom he split after making Fargo, as well as their four daughters. Things are so fraught, people were wondering if he would do that in any other year.
As for the speeches, Laura Dern stole the night with a proclamation that included, "I urge all of us to not only support survivors and bystanders who are brave enough to tell their truth, but to promote restorative justice." Allison Janney was running a close second, after winning the Golden Globe for best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture for I, Tonya. (Janney, a TV veteran and known as a fiercely hard worker, got cheers here.) "What everyone in this movie did was tell a story about class in America, tell a story about the disenfranchised," Janney said. And then, in a twist that captured the fraught nature of Hollywood stars embracing the struggles or ordinary working people, she thanked too many people who would fall into the categories such as personal publicist or personal assistant.
Oprah Winfrey, the first black woman to be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award, was florid not forceful. "I want all the girls watching to know: A new day is on the horizon. When that new day finally dawns, it will be because of the magnificent women and many of them are in this room tonight." It was an odd speech, and it looked like the actresses in the room felt it was about them, not the activists invited to accompany them.
There was fun in it all but it had a strange air to it, this Golden Globes. In the end, the gaggle of critics pretty much decided that the moment that defined it, for all the lengthy speeches and sometimes strained attempts to link so much to the #MeToo movement, was very brief. Not florid at all.
Natalie Portman and Ron Howard strolled out to present the Golden Globe for best director right after Oprah Winfrey's speech. Portman simply said, "And here are our all-male nominees." That nailed everything, with pith. Highlight of the night.