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The Golden Globes came back last night. We were better off without them.
Yes, I’m talking about that awards show that’s like the Oscars, only drunker, cruder and crasser. The Globes are like your least favorite uncle at a family Thanksgiving – everyone has to tolerate the show as a part of the Hollywood adulation machine, but they’re also a bit embarrassed by it.
I wouldn’t fault you for not even knowing that the awkward third wheel of awards season aired Tuesday night on NBC. That’s because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which bestows the awards, was embroiled in scandals over the past few years over the lack of diversity in its membership and bribery and corruption allegations. Hollywood turned swiftly on the organization and its famously alcohol-fueled awards show, with Tom Cruise returning his three trophies and studios and publicists threatening a boycott of the group. The 2022 pandemic-era Globes unfolded without an audience, a network home or nominees in attendance.
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But all’s well that keeps the money flowing in Hollywood, apparently. After the HFPA added 21 new Black, Latino, Asian and Middle Eastern/North African members last fall and promised other reforms, the Globes escaped from their time out. (NBC extricated itself from a deal that cost it $60 million a year for a one-year commitment at a sharply reduced price.) So on a rainy Tuesday in Los Angeles (a weekday chosen because of an extended NFL season), Hollywood put on the glitz and glam and turned out for the red carpet.
But there wasn’t much in the 2023 Golden Globes that really justified its return. At a time when ratings for awards shows are crumbling, when the TV and film industries are going through major upheaval and when diversity and inclusion efforts in Hollywood are nowhere near accomplishing their goals, the Globes no longer feel like they have a place.
