Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different result? It's 2021, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has once again filled me with
equal parts joy, confusion, and rage for the umpteenth year in a row.
At face value, the 2021 Golden Globe nominations might seem divergent from past patterns: Many first-timers were nominated, including Kaley Cuoco for her performance in The Flight Attendant, and new best drama contenders include Lovecraft Country and The Undoing. That's great, but expected—excellent new shows should be nominated. That's the point of an awards show!
What remains starkly the same is the lack of true grit from the HFPA. They'll undoubtedly expect a pat on the back for nominating three women in the best director category, after shutting them out entirely for the past six years. It's fantastic that One Night in Miami's Regina King, Promising Young Woman's Emerald Fennell, and Nomadland's Chloe Zhao all earned nods. It's something akin to progress; it should be celebrated. But this is what happens when some of the most visionary minds in Hollywood are repeatedly disrespected: The wins become so incremental, the awards so vacuous, that they seem to lose their power entirely. It's difficult to celebrate these moments when they're too little, too late.
What's equally frustrating is the signal these nominations send. The Golden Globes are, ostensibly, meant to represent the best in film and television. But Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You, one of the most universally praised shows in recent memory, received not a single nod. Neither did Spike Lee's acclaimed Da 5 Bloods. Lovecraft Country's stupendous performers earned no acting nominations. The Arkansas-set, American-directed Minari was excluded from the Best Picture category due to an HFPA rule that states a film can't be nominated if more than 50 percent of its spoken dialogue is not in English.
If the Golden Globes aren't representing what's truly the best in film and television, that makes them boring at best, obsolete at worst. But don't take my word for it. Twitter's plenty unhappy, too.
Let's start with those snubs, shall we?
The total freeze out of I May Destroy You and Michaela Coel is proof that the Golden Globes deserve zero attention and have zero connection to the actual culture.
— Lydia Polgreen (@lpolgreen) February 3, 2021
No it’s actually CRIMINAL to not recognize Michaela Coel for what she did, not just w trauma or sexual assault or consent, but w friendship and art and power and healing! I May Destroy You was an artist executing a singular vision, pure and focused #GoldenGlobes
— amil (@amil) February 3, 2021
I May Destroy You was an absolute watershed moment. it was more than just telly really. i felt changed by that show. the other shows are good, no disrespect. but IMDY dwarfed them all. revolutionised a genre. maybe that's too scary for some. true art often is. #goldenglobes
— Alice Lowe (@alicelowe) February 3, 2021
Golden Globes snub I May Destroy You after snubbing Watchmen and When They See Us. Disturbing pattern.
— Brian Tallerico (@Brian_Tallerico) February 3, 2021
can’t wait for the self-effacing joke in the Golden Globes opening monologue about Michaela Coel not being nominated that the crowd will sheepishly laugh at and then breathe a sigh of relief that it has been nicely swept under the rug for another year of milky domination
— Rose Matafeo (@Rose_Matafeo) February 3, 2021
I May Destroy You is a thoughtful, gut-twisting, smart, and trauma-informed exploration of the impact of sexual violence. One of the best shows I have seen. Michaela Coel, the writer, co-director AND executive producer deserves all the flowers. What a huge miss #GoldenGlobespic.twitter.com/Gy70eLjEDp
— Farrah Khan (@farrahsafiakhan) February 3, 2021
It's really something that the Golden Globes went out of their way to snub every Black-led film in the Best Motion Picture - Drama category: Da 5 Bloods, Judas and the Black Messiah, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, One Night in Miami. #GoldenGlobes
— Erik Anderson (@awards_watch) February 3, 2021
Ain't no way the Golden Globes ignored Ma Raineys Black Bottom AND Judas and the Black Messiah, but decided to nominate BORAT
— C4TW (@Corwin4TheWin) February 3, 2021
Steven Yeun delivered one of the best performances of the year for me. A masterclass in subtle, nuanced acting, he was able to say with his eyes and his physicality what his emotionally stunted character wasn’t able to put into words.
This snub is painful. #GoldenGlobespic.twitter.com/xZvMHvxUDi
— ahmad (@writtenbyahmad) February 3, 2021
we live in a world where james corden gets nominated and steven yeun doesn't pic.twitter.com/4CfqTCdW6q
— david (@Ioversdiscourse) February 3, 2021
Ah, and then there's the particularly egregious nomination of Emily in Paris for Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy. Folks, we can all appreciate the escapist absurdism of a young American pretending she knows how to fix a French company's social media with cute pictures of croissants, but really—this is the best we can offer?
Bloody hell... ?
I love this show and have watched it far too many times, but it is TERRIBLE. In no way, shape or form is it Awards material.
I wonder how much a nom goes for these days... ? #GoldenGlobes#GlobesSoWhitepic.twitter.com/kwa3U4Xtnq
— Elra Desmond (@elra_desmond) February 3, 2021
There is at least two impostors in every category for the golden globes
— johnnessa ( ˘ ³˘)♥ (@johnnxssa) February 3, 2021
Wait — so the hollywood foreign press really looked at their ballots and picked Emily in Paris over Insecure. And Lily Collins over Issa Rae. They really did that. #GoldenGlobespic.twitter.com/fAk8kZel1m
— Kathleen Newman-Bremang (@KathleenNB) February 3, 2021
The biggest question from today's announcement: When will we decide it's time to stop paying attention to these awards, as they continually prove their disconnect from reality?
The golden globes are a joke. Ridiculous organisation why do they still get so much attention?!
— v e r i t y (@veritynevitt) February 3, 2021
Okay, am I supposed to be thrilled that the Golden Globes nominated three female directors, upset that most of the nominees are super super white and a lot of bad stuff got nominated, or smugly indifferent about the whole concept of award shows? I’m down for any of those three.
— Noah Smith (@smithnoah) February 3, 2021
Y'all deserved better...#GoldenGlobespic.twitter.com/rcE6HkVciu
— Duane Maximoff @ Sundance (kinda) (@Cinemaniac94) February 3, 2021
please move the golden globes out of black history month
— Rembert Browne (@rembert) February 3, 2021