Why Political Fatigue Didn't Hit The Golden Globes in 2020
Even though it feels like we've been in a constant cycle of political turmoil for the past several years, which has left many of us feeling exhausted and unmotivated, we can always count on award shows to hone in on the year's most pressing issues. This year’s Golden Globes were no exception. There’s something sinister about a televised event featuring some of the world’s most wealthy and elite people waxing poetic about the hardships they endured to film a movie that will make more in the box office opening weekend than there are kangaroos remaining in Australia. However, each award show season, this cliché is revived with the same attentive spirit the world gives to Leonardo DiCaprio being a humanitarian or dating someone half his age.
Whether you’re in the camp of "award shows suck," which is mostly reserved for those who revile popular music and deactivate their Instagrams weekly, or you can’t wait to get a look at Billy Porter’s latest red carpet outfit, it is definitely worthwhile to think about significant political moments from this year’s Golden Globes. If you’re a steadfast member of the first camp, the lack of nuance that this year’s Globes held is sure to make you roll your eyes at the predictability of award shows being used as political platforms. We broke down a few key moments.
While accepting her win for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series, or TV Movie for her role as Dee Dee Blanchard in Hulu's The Act, Patricia Arquette voiced the urgent necessity for Americans to vote in the 2020 presidential election. "We will see a country on the brink of war, the United States of America," she says of what seems more likely to go down in history than the awards ceremony. "A president tweeting out a threat of 52 bombs including cultural sites, young people risking their lives traveling across the world, people not knowing if bombs are going to drop on their kids' heads. And the continent of Australia is on fire."
Ricky Gervais put his foot in his mouth...or said exactly what everyone was thinking, depending on who you ask. While hosting the Globes for the fifth time, the British comedian (who proclaimed "I don't care anymore!" at the beginning of his monologue) stated, “If you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world.” Wrong crowd.
Olivia Colman, who picked up a Globe for Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama thanks to her performance in The Crown Season 3, visibly sported a less controversial opinion. Once they'd seen the Emilia Wickstead dress, eagle-eyed viewers noticed the talent was wearing a 50:50 ring to bring awareness to the issue of equal pay or women in the workplace. Once again, "less controversial" is depending on who you ask.
Another celebrity that ruffled a few feathers this awards show season (sorry for the bird pun) was Joaquin Phoenix. While taking home the Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama Golden Globe for his role in Joker, the vegan actor slammed hypocrites in Hollywood, citing their insufficient activism as the catalyst for this label. His speech, which began, “There is no f—ing best actor,” ended with a pointed jab at his fellow actors with Phoenix proclaiming, “It’s great to vote but sometimes we have to take that responsibility on ourselves and make changes and sacrifices in our own lives. I hope that we can do that—we don’t have to take private jets to Palm Springs sometimes or back, please."
While accepting the Best Actress in a Limited Series Golden Globe for her role in Fosse/Verdon, Michelle Williams used her moment in the spotlight to give a galvanizing speech about equal rights for women, inciting her fellow female actors to seek the same treatment that men in Hollywood have been receiving for decades. In the inspiring statement, she encouraged women to vote or their own interests in the 2020 election, saying, “It’s what men have been doing for years.” A few months prior at the Emmys, Williams had given a speech on equal pay, an issue she has personal experience with after the much-publicized disparity between her pay and Mark Wahlberg's in All the Money in the World. While some of the speeches left politically fatigued viewers wanting more, Williams' efforts throughout awards season have felt genuine.
Whether you're a lover or hater of awards show season, one thing that seems certain is the concept that no concepts are original. As we watch many celebrities post about causes without donating and scroll through World War 3 memes in an attempt to feel something, political fatigue is prevalent in every aspect of our day-to-day lives. So too is the lack of self-awareness of the stars, who intend to mobilize the masses but actually often find themselves standing in an echo chamber of the already liberal demographic that still watches the Golden Globes.
