Golden Globes Recap: A Focus On Social Justice, Light On The Problematic

Awards season is in full swing and Decider has you covered. Click here for our coverage on the 2015 Golden Globes.

As someone who has probably been called a “Social Justice Warrior” by an anonymous commenter or two (I’ve stopped scrolling down, no longer needing to know what comments anyone feels compelled to leave for me), I took great relish in last night’s Golden Globes ceremony, not just because of the political nature of the evening, but the progressive-leaning stance the night seemed to take. Sure, I know Hollywood is all full of “liberals” with an agenda to make America less white and super gay and run by women or something — which is pretty much not true if you remember that Hollywood pretty much thrives on selling to the lowest-common denominator, generally only produces films about marginalized communities that incorporate persecution narratives, continuously avoid the types of movies in which women of “a certain age” are the protagonists, and keeps plenty of gay performers in the closet for fear that they can’t be taken seriously in straight roles. So, sure, give me my silly awards show hosted by two funny women who poked fun at the hypocrisy of their own industry while other rich people below them got drunk on fancy champagne.

Luckily for me and my like-minded cohort of progressive thinkers, there was a certain attitude to last night’s Globes that seemed pretty positive and, for the most part, free of controversy. Hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler set the bar high with their opening monologue, which immediately tackled the Sony email leaks and that whole brouhaha over The Interview‘s release, putting more importance on the latter and poking fun on how the movie wasn’t received very well by critics or audiences after all of that fuss. And after their annual poking fun at George Clooney, pointing out how his recent wife’s globally conscious humanitarian work pales in comparison to his career as a leading man in movies (which earned him the Cecil B. Demille Award for lifetime achievement), they ended their monologue with a surprising dig at Bill Cosby, which caused plenty of the celebrities in attendance to nervously laugh or, in Jessica Chastain‘s case, drop a jaw and figuratively clasp pearls.

As for the Cosby jokes, Fey and Poehler proved one thing for certain: funny rape jokes, while certainly rare, do exist — particularly if the alleged rapist in question is the butt of the joke. And because it was their last time hosting the event, they went all out, unapologetically exuding their glee at making their peers squirm in their seats.

One of the first acceptance speeches was from Billy Bob Thornton, picking up the statue for his work on Fargo. “These days you get into a lot of trouble no matter what you say,” he said. “I know this for a fact, so I’m just going to say thank you.” It was a smart move, even if it felt a little disingenuous and dripping with the subtext that men, in particularly, are silenced by the previously mentioned SJWs on the Internet. (It’s not really true — men of Thornton’s ilk still maintain their power, but the growing cadre of voices that for years have felt silenced have, thanks to social media platforms, been able to speak out and, I suppose, have begun to threaten those with greater standing into thinking that suddenly their days are numbered.) But it was short and sweet and allowed more time for more powerful speeches, particularly from Transparent creator Jill Soloway, whose show became the first original streaming series to pick up a major award of this kind.

Following Soloway was Transparent star Jeffrey Tambor, who won Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Maura Pfefferman, the transgender matriarch of a dysfunctional California family. He dedicated his award to the transgender community, giving shout-outs to the series’ consulting producers — all members of the aforementioned community — for “[leading] me through the steps to find more of Jeffrey than I’ve ever known in my entire life.” Try contrasting that acceptance speech with Jared Leto’s from last year, which saw the Dallas Buyers Club star focusing more on the physical nature of his performance as a trans woman and joking about Brazillian waxing rather than considering the internal, emotional nature of the role.

Other politically themed wins included Matt Bomer for his supporting role in The Normal Heart, HBO’s searing (if a little bit underwhelming) film about the early days of the AIDS epidemic, as well as John Legend and Common’s win for their song “Glory.” From the phenomenal Selma, which tells the story of the organization of the 1965 Martin Luther King, Jr.-led march from the titular town to the Alabama capitol in Montgomery, the song includes a direct reference to recent political action in Ferguson, Missouri, proving that the period piece is perhaps more timely than any other film this year that takes place in present day.

Another highlight was Maggie Gyllenhaal‘s acceptance speech. Winning for her role on The Honourable Woman, Gyllenhaal noted the “wealth of roles” for women in television. “I think about the performances that I’ve watched this year what I see actually are women who are sometimes powerful and sometimes not, sometimes sexy, sometimes not, sometimes honorable, sometimes not,” she said, “and what I think is new is the wealth of roles for actual women in television and in film.”

Of course, none of this is to say that there weren’t moments that fell flat. Jeremy Renner took the opportunity to make an oft-repeated joke and refer to fellow presenter Jennifer Lopez’s “golden globes.” Kevin Hart practically silenced Salma Hayek on stage, commanding the attention all to himself (which, to be fair, is pretty much what we’ve come to expect from him). And Ricky Gervais proved himself to be, yet again, his own biggest fan with a giggly, cringeworthy bit about the inflated egos of everyone else in the room. It’s the kind of thing that probably would have landed better had it not been delivered by someone who also thinks so highly of himself.

And there was the recurring bit that involved Margaret Cho dressed as a North Korean member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which received a mixed response on Twitter.

One thing is for certain: Margaret Cho’s short-lived sitcom All-American Girl may have suffered a worse fate had Twitter been around, especially since her controversial North Korean impression (which she even incorporated into a bit part on 30 Rock) is reminiscent of the way in which she describes her mother both in her stand-up and as a character on her quickly cancelled ’90s TV show. (Cho has never been one for avoiding broad humor, which has always been part of her appeal.)

For all of the diverse and social justice-minded moments last night, Selma‘s losses for Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture – Drama were hard to swallow for many viewers, as was the lack of any commentary about race relations in modern-day America that make the film feel so prescient. The film lost the top honors to the highly praised Boyhood, with its writer-director Richard Linklater beating Selma‘s Ava DuVernay for Best Director. The road to the Oscars may be filled with plenty of think-pieces pitting these movie against each other, which seems a bit unfair; I was throwing my full support behind Boyhood until I happened to see Selma just hours before the Golden Globes. Both movies left incredible marks on their audiences; their affect on me, personally, are rather equal, even if they stirred up vastly different emotions.

If anything, the Best Picture race may be getting more complicated, especially considering Selma‘s more politically charged subject matter — and the fact that it has just seen a wide release in recent weeks. Overall, the Golden Globes provide a hopeful feeling going into the next month’s Oscars (and, later, the Emmys at the end of the summer). Most importantly, as with every awards season, it’s the unpredictability that proves the most exciting aspect of the time between the free-wheelin’ Globes and the more reverent Oscars.

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