With a red carpet dyed black by actresses dressed in a colour-co-ordinated statement, the Golden Globes were transformed into an A-list expression of female empowerment in the post-Harvey Weinstein era. Oprah Winfrey led the charge.
鈥淔or too long women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men,鈥� said Winfrey, accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. 鈥淏ut their time is up. Their time is up!鈥�
More than any award handed out Sunday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, Winfrey鈥檚 speech, which was greeted by a rousing, ongoing standing ovation, encapsulated the 鈥淢e Too鈥� mood at an atypically powerful Golden Globes. The night 鈥� usually one reserved for more carefree partying 鈥� served as Hollywood鈥檚 fullest response yet to the sexual harassment scandals that have roiled the film industry and laid bare its gender inequalities.
鈥淎 new day is on the horizon!鈥� promised Winfrey, who noted she was the first black woman to be given the honour.
With a cutting stare, presenter Natalie Portman followed Winfrey鈥檚 speech by introducing, as she said, 鈥渢he all-male鈥� nominees for best director.
The movie that many believe speaks most directly to the current moment 鈥� 鈥淭hree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,鈥� about a mother avenging the rape and murder of her daughter 鈥� emerged as the night鈥檚 top film. It won best picture, drama, best actress, drama, for Frances McDormand, best supporting actor for Sam Rockwell and best screenplay for writer-director Martin McDonagh.
Accepting her award, McDormand granted she was befuddled at the identities of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but gave them credit. 鈥淎t least they managed to elect a female president,鈥� she said. She added that the evening indeed had a special feeling.
鈥淭rust me, the women in this room tonight are not here for the food,鈥� said McDormand.
Host Seth Meyers opened the night by diving straight into material about the sex scandals. 鈥淕ood evening ladies and remaining gentlemen,鈥� he began. In punchlines on Weinstein 鈥� 鈥渢he elephant not in the room鈥� 鈥� Kevin Spacey and Hollywood鈥檚 deeper gender biases, Meyers scored laughs throughout the ballroom, and maybe a sense of release.
鈥淔or the male nominees in the room tonight, this is the first time in three months it won鈥檛 be terrifying to hear your name read out loud,鈥� said Meyers.
The first award of the night, perhaps fittingly, went to one of Hollywood鈥檚 most powerful women: Nicole Kidman, for her performance in HBO鈥檚 鈥淭he Big Little Lies,鈥� a series she and Reese Witherspoon also produced. Kidman chalked the win up to 鈥渢he power of women.鈥�
鈥淏ig Little Lies鈥� won a leading four awards, including best limited series and best supporting actress for Laura Dern. Like seven other female stars, Dern walked the red carpet with a women鈥檚 rights activist as part of an effort to keep the Globes spotlight trained on sexual harassment. Dern was joined by farmworker advocate Monica Ramirez, Michelle Williams with 鈥淢e Too鈥� founder Tarana Burke, and Meryl Streep with domestic worker advocate Ai-jen Poo.
鈥淢ay we teach all of our children that speaking out without fear of retribution is our new North Star,鈥� said Dern, accepting her Globe.
Other winners continued the theme. Amazon鈥檚 recently debuted 鈥淭he Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,鈥� about a 1950s housewife who takes up stand-up comedy, won best TV series comedy, and best actress for Rachel Brosnahan. Elisabeth Moss, accepting an award for her performance in Hulu鈥檚 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale,鈥� movingly dedicated her award to Margaret Atwood, whose book the show is based on. 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale鈥� later added the award for best TV series, drama.
鈥淲e no longer live in the blank white spaces at the edge of print,鈥� said Moss, referencing Atwood鈥檚 prose. 鈥淲e no longer live in the gaps between the stories. We are the stories in print and we are writing the stories ourselves.鈥�
Hollywood鈥檚 awards season is seen as wide open. And though the Globes have little correlation with the Oscars, a handful of movies came away with big wins.
Greta Gerwig鈥檚 mother-daughter tale 鈥淟ady Bird鈥� won best picture, comedy or musical, and best actress honours for Saoirse Ronan. Guillermo del Toro鈥檚 Cold War-era fantasy 鈥淭he Shape of Water鈥� won for its score and del Toro鈥檚 directing. The emotional Mexican-born filmmaker wiped back tears and managed to quiet the music that urged him off.
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Notably left empty-handed were Christopher Nolan鈥檚 鈥淒unkirk,鈥� Jordan Peele鈥檚 horror sensation 鈥淕et Out鈥� and Steven Spielberg鈥檚 鈥淭he Post,鈥� starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep. At the top of the show, Meyers alluded to Spielberg鈥檚 film鈥檚 awards-season bona fides, feigned to present an armful of Globes before the show even started.
The Globes had long been the stomping grounds of disgraced mogul Weinstein, whose downfall precipitated allegations against James Toback, Spacey and many others. Weinstein presided over two decades of Globes winners and was well-known for his savvy manipulation of the 89-member press association.
Though it bills itself as Hollywood鈥檚 biggest party, the Golden Globes struck a slightly more formal, Oscar-like tone, complete with moments of appreciation for movie legends. Kirk Douglas, 101, appearing with his daughter-in-law, Catherin Zeta-Jones, received a warm standing ovation.
Best actor in a comedy or musical went to James Franco for his performance as the infamous 鈥淭he Room鈥� filmmaker Tommy Wiseau. Franco dragged his co-star and brother, Dave, to the stage and called up Wiseau. When the Wiseau, wearing his trademark sunglasses, got to the stage, he moved for the microphone before Franco turned him back. 鈥淲hoa, whoa, whoa,鈥� said Franco as the audience chuckled.
Gary Oldman, considered by some to be the best actor front runner, won for his Winston Churchill in 鈥淒arkest Hour,鈥� edging out newcomer Timothee Chalamet (鈥淐all Me By Your Name鈥�) and Hanks.
Best foreign language film went to Germany鈥檚 鈥淚n the Fade.鈥� Allison Janney took best supporting actress in a comedy for the Tonya Harding tale 鈥淚, Tonya.鈥� Aziz Ansari took best actor in a comedy series for his Netflix show 鈥淢aster of None.鈥�
Best animated film went to the Pixar release 鈥淐oco.鈥� Pixar co-founder John Lasseter is taking a 鈥渟ix-month sabbatical鈥� after acknowledging 鈥渕issteps鈥� in his workplace behaviour. Backstage, 鈥淐oco鈥� director Lee Unkrich was asked about changes at Pixar. 鈥淲e can all be better,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have been taking steps and continue to move forward to create art.鈥�
Sunday night鈥檚 black-clad demonstration was promoted by the recently formed Time鈥檚 Up: an initiative of hundreds of women in the entertainment industry 鈥攊ncluding Streep, Williams, Dern and Winfrey 鈥� who have banded together to advocate for gender parity in executive ranks and provide legal defence aid for sexual harassment victims.
Ashley Judd, the first big name to go on record with her Weinstein experience, and Salma Hayek, who last month penned an op-ed about her nightmare with Weinstein, arrived together.
Just about everyone, woman and man, celebrity and red-carpet reporter, was dressed in black, many of them wearing a Time鈥檚 Up pin. 鈥淭his Is Us鈥� star Chris Sullivan even sported black fingernails. Later, his co-star Sterling K. Brown won for best drama actor. Brown, the first black man to win the category, thanked 鈥淭his Is Us鈥� creator Dan Fogelman.
鈥淵ou wrote a role for a black man that can only be played by a black man,鈥� said Brown. 鈥淚鈥檓 being seen for who I am.鈥�
Though the atmosphere was still buoyant and positive, the usually superficial red carpet had unusual exchanges. While being interviewed live on E!, Debra Messing called out the network for allegedly not paying its female hosts the same as its male hosts. E!鈥檚 Catt Sadler recently departed after she said she learned she was making about half the pay of her male counterpart, Jason Kennedy.
It was just another illustration of how the 鈥淢eToo鈥� reckoning that has plowed through Hollywood has upended awards season. Among the nominees Sunday was Christopher Plummer, who was brought in at the last minute to erase Spacey from 鈥淎ll the Money in the World.鈥�
But the night belonged to women. Even Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, marking the 25th anniversary of 鈥淭helma & Louise,鈥� were brought in as much-cheered presenters.
Said Davis with thick irony: 鈥淭hey love that we fixed everything.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Andrew Dalton and Lindsey Bahr contributed to his report from Beverly Hills.
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
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