by Kyna Morgan
Hosts of the Golden Globes: Tina Fey in Johny Depp-like drag, and Amy Poehler
Last night was the 70th Annual Golden Globes awards ceremony hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Firstly, I won't say much here as I feel that critiques of gender representation, the representation of people of color, and, hopefully, the representation of non-U.S. films are already being covered by many other media. And secondly, for those of you on twitter, I tweeted along with various others for some injection of feminism and media literacy, particularly Megan Kearns of @OpinionessWorld, Maysoon Zayid of @maysoonzayid, Jamie Kilstein of @jamiekilstein, Allison Kilkenny of @allisonkilkenny, Molly McCaffrey of @IWillNotDiet, Melissa Silverstein of @melsil, and Myrna of @SoapboxingGeek, all great people to follow! Thanks to them, there was a great deal of humor and informed disappointment built into the night as we tweeted about our major beefs: lack of female representation, lack of ethnic & racial diversity, weird presenter gaffes, great presenters (Amy Poehler & Tina Fey were the best of all, hands down), and the rather Islamophobic show "Homeland" (even though you might like the performances) winning awards, including for Claire Danes.
Just a few facts about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the body that awards the Golden Globes, there are 92 members considered "active," with about 38 of the members being women, and 15 or more of the members representing two or more countries. Representation seems to be a bit disproportionately European. You can read the list of members and see what countries they represent on the HFPA website.
One slap in the face of the night was Brenda Chapman co-winning for Brave (Best Animated Feature) but without any mention of her even though she was not at the Golden Globes show. The woman who stood at the podium with the other co-winner, Mark Andrews, wasn't even identified.
Jodie Foster gave a very interesting speech accepting her Cecil B. DemiIlle Lifetime Achievement Award (she's been in film for 47 years!) where she sort of came out publicly as a lesbian, mentioned privacy and the media, her work... She also did a great thing, which is recognize the great crews she's worked with over the years.
Just a few facts about the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the body that awards the Golden Globes, there are 92 members considered "active," with about 38 of the members being women, and 15 or more of the members representing two or more countries. Representation seems to be a bit disproportionately European. You can read the list of members and see what countries they represent on the HFPA website.
One slap in the face of the night was Brenda Chapman co-winning for Brave (Best Animated Feature) but without any mention of her even though she was not at the Golden Globes show. The woman who stood at the podium with the other co-winner, Mark Andrews, wasn't even identified.
Jodie Foster gave a very interesting speech accepting her Cecil B. DemiIlle Lifetime Achievement Award (she's been in film for 47 years!) where she sort of came out publicly as a lesbian, mentioned privacy and the media, her work... She also did a great thing, which is recognize the great crews she's worked with over the years.
All in all, it wasn't REALLY the "crapfest" I kept calling it last night -- I couldn't stop myself. There were a lot of laughs, mostly because of Tina and Amy, and some nice speeches, but of course the loveliest moments were when winners thanked their mothers: Damien Lewis, Jessica Chastain and Jodie Foster.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler really saved the day and had some great lines throughout, but particularly kicked it off with some zingers. Ultimately, though, it's the nature of awards shows, and the underrepresentation of so many groups: women, people of color, people with disabilities, etc., that are the problem, and not the hosts. But Fey and Poehler at least made it bearable, and funny, and set a record for being the first women to host a major awards show together!
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler really saved the day and had some great lines throughout, but particularly kicked it off with some zingers. Ultimately, though, it's the nature of awards shows, and the underrepresentation of so many groups: women, people of color, people with disabilities, etc., that are the problem, and not the hosts. But Fey and Poehler at least made it bearable, and funny, and set a record for being the first women to host a major awards show together!
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