75th Golden Globe Awards

TOPIC: 75th Golden Globe Awards

(FYI: The Golden Globes in an annual award ceremony which honors excellence in film and American television.)

Hosted by Late Show host Seth Meyers, the 2018 Golden Globes was broadcast live on NBC from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on January 7, 2018. With emotional speeches from celebrity guests including Nicole Kidman, Saoirse Ronan and Oprah Winfrey, this award show started the year off on a very progressive note.    

During the red carpet coverage, which showed celebrities arriving before the ceremony began, there was a clear trend among the crowd: wearing black clothing in support of the #MeToo movement for gender equality following recent Hollywood sexual assault allegations. Examples of celebrities who were apart of this trend included Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown who decided to wear all black, showing off a winged LBD with a deep V in the back, with winged eyeliner, diamond cuff earrings, and braided top knot. Baby Driver star Ansel Elgort also looked his best with slicked black hair and an all black suit complete with a black bowtie. And lastly, 13 Reasons Why’s Australian lead actress Katherine Langford wore a bejeweled Prada gown with a plunging neckline, while her mermaid hair was styled to one side in order to show off her diamond earrings.

Moving along to the award show, comedian and political commentator Seth Meyers took to the stage to present his opening monologue as the night’s awaited host. Addressing the absence of Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, two men who have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct, Meyers focused on the topic of harassment towards women in Hollywood, saying that a woman host would have been a more appropriate choice for the Golden Globes this year. Additionally, Meyers introduced a segment from his show called “Jokes Seth Can’t Tell”, where he creates a set-up for a joke but has someone else deliver the punchline because it would sound funnier coming from someone who is not a straight, white male. Meyers notably asked for Amy Poehler's cooperation, where she had the whole room in laughter while telling the host to stop “mansplaining” the directions to her.

As for the awards themselves, Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson presented the award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture, which was given to none other than Nicole Kidman. The actress was very sincere in her acceptance speech where she thanked her husband, Keith Urban, and encouraged the conversation on gender equality to continue. Viewers were also thrilled to see Roseanne’s very own Roseanne Barr and John Goodman present the award for Best Drama TV Series and given to the Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale, which was nominated alongside Stranger Things, This Is Us, The Crown, and even Game Of Thrones. As far as Best Actor goes, Emma Stone announced James Franco as the winner for the category of a musical or comedy, beating Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya, Battle of the Sexes’ Steve Carell, and even The Greatest Showman’s Hugh Jackman.

 

Other presenters throughout the night included names such as Viola Davis, Zac Efron, Jennifer Aniston, Carol Burnett, Mariah Carey, Seth Rogen, Octavia Spencer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Emma Watson, Dakota Johnson, Natalie Portman and even 10-time Golden Globe winner Barbra Streisand. But the biggest name that came out of Golden Globes night was Oprah. Introduced by Reese Witherspoon who described the former talk-show host as giving the most elegant hugs and wisdom, Oprah Winfrey walked out on stage to accept the Cecil B. DeMille Award, an honor given to an individual who’s had a resounding influence the world of entertainment. A woman who now has an entire television network named after herself, Oprah received a standing ovation for her speech at the Golden Globes after addressing racial discrimination and sexual assault in society. Using the passionate #MeToo movement and the trending #TimesUp initiative in her speech, Oprah directed her message to all the little girls watching her by stressing the importance of “speaking your truth”. Oprah also acknowledged that she is the first black woman to have ever received this award.           

Lastly, the lead actress of 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Frances McDormand, won Best Actress in Drama Motion Picture with the other nominees including Hollywood legends such as Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams. As for Best Motion Picture, Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird won Best Musical or Comedy, while 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won Best Drama. Other films nominated for Best Picture were Steven Spielberg's The Post, Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, and the critically acclaimed Calle Me By Your Name.  

In conclusion, the 2018 Golden Globes was a night filled with emotional speeches, exciting presenters, and, for the guests, lots and lots of wine. :)