Sunday night’s Golden Globes telecast will feature stars dressed in black to honor sexual assault victims, Trump jabs from host Seth Meyers and possibly speeches tied to current events.
What about the best movies and TV shows of 2017?
Sure, movies like Steven Spielberg’s “The Post” and Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” could walk away winners. So might TV fare such as Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Netflix’s “Master of None.”
The night still will be dominated by what happened off screen over the past 12 months. The #MeToo movement in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. The power imbalance between male and female stars within the industry. Celebrities using every pulpit possible to denounce President Trump. Any breaking news that happens right up until showtime.
It’s all fair game. Does that mean this weekend’s gala will preview the Oscars ceremony, to be hosted by suddenly partisan comic Jimmy Kimmel on March 4?
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Roger Simon said one reason for the lack of focus this year can be pinned on the products.
“There’s no great movie this year that everybody’s excited about,” Mr. Simon said.
Another problem flows from the ceremony itself. Critics have pounced on the Golden Globes over time for its inauthentic moments, if not downright corruption. Remember how Pia Zadora nabbed a Golden Globe in 1982 for best new star (over Kathleen Turner)? Accusations flew that her wealthy, film-financing husband helped make that possible with a fierce, generous promotional campaign.
Denzel Washington, who won the group’s Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, told a story during his acceptance speech connecting award campaigning to coming out a winner.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is a relatively small body of entertainment journalists who are based in Southern California. The group formed, in part, to allow foreign reporters greater access to Hollywood talent and resources. Its annual awards gala has grown considerably since it began as a modest luncheon in 1943.
The Press Association’s brand has improved over time, but not in the minds of every viewer.
This year’s Globes head-scratcher? The horror film “Get Out” earned a nomination for best musical or comedy.
Mr. Simon said Golden Globe chances fizzled for his celebrated 1989 film, “Enemies: A Love Story,” after the film’s star, Anjelica Huston, refused to have lunch with Press Association members.
“They didn’t nominate us for anything,” said Mr. Simon, comparing the Press Association’s policies to those of the Academy Awards. “The Oscars are not corrupt. They are what they are, but they’re not corrupt.”
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association may have improved since then, he said, but “the fact that it’s taken seriously is almost ludicrous.”
Film historian and critic Leonard Maltin said this weekend’s telecast can’t help but address the cultural issues flowing in and around Hollywood.
“It’s in the air. … It’s the ultimate elephant in the room. It can’t and won’t be ignored,” said Mr. Maltin, host of the Feb. 17 REELZ special “Awards Season Winners and Losers.” “Seth Meyers is going to deal with it, and a lot of winners are going to have statements to make.”
Mr. Maltin cautions against using the night’s winners and losers to look ahead to Oscar night, particularly in a year with no real front-runner.
“I’ve never subscribed to the idea that the Globes are a precursor to anything,” he said. “The fact that the Globes deal with the same subject as the Oscars is the only thing they have common.”
The night still could help shape the Oscar race in some small way.
“Obviously, whatever the Globes decides to anoint will get a little more attention and perhaps more traction in the race,” Mr. Maltin said. “I hate when it becomes a horse race, but it does ultimately become that.”
Screenwriter and novelist Andrew Klavan fears another evening filled with stars pounding their progressive messages for all to hear.
“There’s something so offensive about the most privileged community in America pausing in the midst of giving themselves awards to lecture the rest of us on what’s right and true in politics,” Mr. Klavan said. “Did the light of wisdom dawn on them during their third divorce or while they were in rehab or what?”
Mr. Klavan zeroed in on Meryl Streep, who used her Cecil B. DeMille acceptance speech last year to excoriate Mr. Trump.
“Ten minutes of honest self-reflection would tell Meryl Streep that maybe it’s not her place to explain to an out-of-work factory hand in Michigan how he can most wisely use his vote,” he said.
Like many other industry observers, Mr. Simon expects the Golden Globes ceremony to be political. He wonders if one news story will get the recognition it deserves, particularly at a time of female empowerment.
“Are they going to mention the women of Iran who are getting outrageously courageous” against the regime’s dictatorial ways? he asked.
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