I am over the awkward trying-too-hard-to-be-funny Zoom jokes. We get it. We have been living in this virtual world for almost a year now. The Golden Globes did not get the message apparently. The famed award show aired last night from 8-11 p.m. You know the saying, “this could’ve been an email?” That’s how I felt about last night's awards ceremony. It could have easily been cut in half.
As I sat through the entire 3 hours, I realized this presented a great opportunity for a blog. So I toughed it out and watched every minute of it.
I was originally excited to hear that Amy Poehler and Tina Fey were hosting together. I am a fan of their individual work and their collaborations, so I started the show ready to be humored. Turns out, hosting “together” meant Tina was in New York and Amy was in Los Angeles. When they spoke, they were shown on a split screen. Surprisingly, there were no technical difficulties or weird glitches with that...But I cannot say the same for the rest of the night.
Photo courtesy of Dayton Daily News.
The first award went to Daniel Kaluuya for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his work in "Judas and the Black Messiah." There was an issue right off the bat. He was muted on Zoom or muted by the producers. The poor guy was so excited and dove right into a speech that no one could hear. Eventually, they got his microphone working and acknowledged the classic mix up.
Next, Catherine O'Hara accepted the award for Best Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy. I honestly could not even tell you what she said in her speech because her husband thought it was so humorous to play congratulatory music from his phone and music signaling Catherine to wrap up her speech. I understand what he was trying to do, but when you are on Zoom, we all know that the background noise has got to go.
Viewing data shows that the ratings fell nearly 60% from last year's ceremony. I found this number while searching for the demographic information of Golden Globe viewers. I learned that the ads targeted adults ages 18-49, a very large demographic if you ask me. I am not sure if my mom was watching, but I can tell you that the ads that appeal to her do not appeal to me in most cases.
So, in what seemed to be an attempt to reach a younger audience, the Golden Globes filmed a segment with viral TikTok user La'Ron Hines. He is known for asking preschoolers, "Are you smart?" Then he follows up with a series of basic questions that the kids answer completely wrong. It is actually really funny.
The award show producers took advantage and had La'Ron ask preschoolers about the Golden Globes and famous actors/actresses. The only thing they could all agree on was, "Who is Chadwick Boseman?" "Black Panther!"
While I do love La'Ron's TikToks, I think the Golden Globes missed the mark.
There were some heartfelt moments that made up for the cringe-worthy production. Director Lee Isaac Chung accepted the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language. When they cut to his Zoom window, his 7-year-old daughter jumped in his lap, gave him a big hug and shouted "I prayed! I prayed! I prayed!" Pure joy.
Finally, the late Chadwick Boseman was awarded Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." His wife accepted the award on his behalf and her speech brought my friends and I to tears. She spoke of his optimistic outlook on life and how he worked to inspire change in the world. By far, my favorite moment of the night. It made everything else worth the wait.
Overall, the Golden Globes just did not do it for me this year. I know this review turned out to be mostly negative, but for living on Zoom for the past year, I had high hopes and it definitely could've gone better.
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