The Golden Globes Are Back – But Should They Be?

When I first heard from my editors that I was going to have to take the Golden Globes “seriously” this year, my first thought was, “Ugh,” followed by a resounding “Ick,” and then, “Why?” Less than two years after an industry-wide boycott was enacted against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s famously flashy awards show, the Globes are back, baby! The HFPA totally solved all their institutional issues in just a year and change. The organization’s inherent racism? Apparently fixed by adding six Black members in 2021. A penchant for overlooking female filmmakers? Uh, I guess they’re working on that. The Golden Globes’s patented obsession with star-power and swag above all else? Who can say?

The Golden Globes epitomize everything I once loved and now hate about awards shows. They’re glitzy and glamorous, and ultimately shallow. Like all awards shows, they’re important within the industry because of how they can move the financial needle. Not just for the winners — who can use the dubious honor to juice their Oscar chances — but for the cottage industry that feeds off of it. We’re talking writers devoted to covering awards season, publicists who spearhead FYC (aka “For Your Consideration” campaigns), stylists who curate a star’s red carpet strategy, and networks who make ad sales airing the shows. Of course, that group of folks, which includes yours truly, should root for the Globes to return. The problem is I’m not.

I’m not convinced that a few short years is enough to correct the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s institutional rot. It’s not just that they nominated a popular turd of a show like Wednesday for Best Comedy Series, but that nominee Brendan Fraser is boycotting the awards because, as he told GQ in 2022, “I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.”

In another 2018 GQ story, Fraser revealed that he had been sexually assaulted by HFPA big shot Phillip Berk. Berk, who was once president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, was coincidentally booted from the organization in 2021 after sharing an article describing the Black Lives Matter movement as a “racist hate movement.” To this day, Fraser has not received what he considers to be a sincere apology for the traumatic event.

“No, I will not participate,” Fraser continued in the 2022 GQ piece. “It’s because of the history that I have with them. And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. You can call me a lot of things, but not that.”

While it remains to be seen if any other major stars will join Fraser in his boycott, we already have a list of celebrities and awards season contenders who will be attending Tuesday’s Golden Globes. Variety reports that Austin Butler, Steven Spielberg, Daniel Craig, Jenna Ortega, Jessica Chastain, and Kevin Costner are among the nominees expected to attend. Even though I’m not convinced the HFPA has indeed done enough to prove it’s reformed, I get it. I understand why the celebs want to go to the Golden Globes.

People like the Golden Globes because they’re fun. For decades, it was the one time a year that celebrities from lowly television would get to hobnob with the vaunted icons of the silver screen. Stars would be crammed into the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton, where comics like Ricky Gervais or Tina Fey and Amy Poehler would roast them to their faces. Food was served, champagne flowed, and usually poised stars reverted into party mode.

The Golden Globes was also an awards show with a reputation for chaos. Up-and-comers could beat industry titans to win major awards and dark horse Oscar bets could eke out wins in the Globes’s (extremely subjective) Comedy/Musical categories. The Golden Globes is both a great hang and a phenomenal opportunity to juice an Oscar or Emmy campaign. So I get it.

But I also get that you can’t totally transform a bigoted culture overnight. You can’t expect an organization with a history of prioritizing swag over seriousness to suddenly exhibit good taste. Most of all, I don’t see how a few polished press releases can heal Brendan Fraser’s pain.

I also know that the only value that awards like the Golden Globes, Emmys, Oscars, or even the Razzies hold in this industry is the value we ascribe to them. When we collectively decided to turn a blind eye to the Golden Globes last year, the awards season marched on with nary a missed step. What does tuning in on Tuesday night do except re-legitimize an organization that still has some messes to clean up? The power the Golden Globes has in 2023 is the power we give it, and I’d rather ignore it.

And yet, because I am part of the media ecosystem that feeds off of drama, pageantry, and serious criticism, I have to watch on Tuesday night. I have to wonder if the baby steps the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has made are enough to clear the chasm of controversies that has dogged them for two years. I need to see how the Globes do (or don’t) shift the needle on this oh-so-holy Oscar season. But mostly I want to see how emcee Jerrod Carmichael — one of the most innovative and exciting voices in comedy — decides to wield his power as host.

On Tuesday night, the Golden Globes will either make the case that they’re still worth our attention or they’ll prove to us that it’s time for them to die.