The 81st Golden Globes took place last night and began the 2024 awards season, bringing stars together for an exciting but also somewhat tense evening.
It seems that after the Globes’ forced hiatus from TV during the SAG-AFTRA strikes, a series of scandals, and various other disruptions in the industry, the dynamic at the event transformed into a much more awkward atmosphere than it used to be. With forced exchanges between the different presenters and an offbeat host that didn’t quite know how to read the room, the night became a bit chaotic.
Jo Koy, the host of the evening, opened up the show with a monologue that more or less bombed. Instead of succeeding in the show’s attempted reboot, his out-of-place jokes about “Barbie” breasts, and bitter jabs at the audience for not laughing at his awkward cracks kicked off the show on a bit of a flat note–to say the least.
Overall, the night was a bit discombobulated, but there were some funny presenter moments that brought things together at times, such as Kristen Wiig’s and Will Ferrell’s quirky musical number/sketch, along with Andra Ray and Jon Batiste’s natural banter in which they joked about the ridiculously long and specific award categories.
In spite of some of these lows, however, the event had many highlights, including Barbie and Oppenheimer going neck and neck for the most-nominated movie of the night, with Barbie having nine total nominations (making it the most nominated film of the night) and Oppenheimer gathering a total of eight.
In the end, Oppenheimer came out on top, taking home Best Motion Picture, Best Director, and more. Both movies were still commended for their part in reviving a global box office that was still recovering from a rough patch left by the pandemic with their playful cinematic feud, and Barbie received the first-ever Achievements in Box Office award for its unforgettable pink-colored domination of theaters.
Another significant moment came from Lily Gladstone, who won in the Best Actress category for her role in Killers of The Flower Moon, giving a heartwarming speech that celebrated an accolade for indigenous creatives and the culture as a whole, claiming “This is a historic win; it doesn’t just belong to me.”
For TV, Succession solidified its place as one of the most acclaimed current drama series, getting nine nominations (the most of the night) and more than a few wins for its final season. A peak of their reign was when Matthew Macfadyen won in the Best Supporting Actor category, thanking his character on the show for the “human grease stain” he is.
The Bear and Beef also did pretty well in the TV segments, with both sweeping the the Best Actor, Actress, and Series wins in their respective categories.
With the Oscars and Emmys approaching, this night set the tone for the films and shows that will likely be popular at these events, but hopefully not for the hosting and presenters.
