There were plenty of deserving winners at the 2018 Golden Globes ceremony. That’s a given. But there were also some snubs and omissions that felt like a punch to the stomach. These are the rebuffs we’re most sore about.
Get Out
Jordan Peele’s remarkable first feature, Get Out, was one of 2017’s biggest talking points. It was universally hailed as a fine piece of filmmaking. It’s smart, sassy, pertinent and provocative; a deceptively simple genre piece.
How was GET OUT the only movie EVERYONE was talking about yet they never touched the stage? #GTFO #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/u7sXdKMZ6R
— Terrence L. Moore (@TMooreDAJ) January 8, 2018
When Peele’s satirical horror was eyebrow-raisingly included in the category for Best Comedy/Musical, it felt like it was a shoo-in for the gong. It seemed like a way of assuring its success. But the popular vote and critics’ shouts were ignored, so it transpires. Not only did it fail to pick up the award in this category but it also got no nomination in the screenplay category. And to rub salt in the wound, Daniel Kaluuya, so affecting in the lead role, lost out to The Disaster Artist‘s James Franco in the Best Comedy Actor category. A massive miscarriage, some might say.
Daniel Kaluuya gave such a gorgeous, nuanced performance in Get Out. I think about his acting from it often. He carried so much history & survival in his eyes, with just a glance. So many stories, untold. A true gift to his craft. #GoldenGlobes
— Rachel McKibbens 🦋 (@RachelMcKibbens) January 8, 2018
Women Directors
Not only did a woman director not win at an event that very publicly voiced its support for women in the industry, but also none were even nominated. Not a one. Not Wonder Woman success story Patty Jenkins, the woman behind one of the highest-grossing films of the year which also featured a female protagonist. Not Lady Bird auteur Greta Gerwig, whose film took home the Best Comedy/Musical award. And not Mudbound helmer Dee Rees, whose film tackled an important and relevant subject in the most powerful of ways.
I don't care that Wonder Woman was a blockbuster. I don't care that it grossed highly. I don't care that it was about a superhero. Patty Jenkins DID THAT. And the fact that she didnt even get a nom… #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/GGhS8I1vpc
— Dani (@blacktransgirl) January 8, 2018
And if the lack of female talent up for recognition wasn’t immediately obvious, Natalie Portman took the opportunity to point it out. Ahead of announcing the winner in the Best Director category, the actress pointed out the total dominance of men in the list of nominees, giving ceremony organisers a very public rap across the knuckles.
Natalie Portman’s point, there were plenty of options:
* Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird
* Patty Jenkins – Wonder Woman
* Sofia Coppola – The Beguiled
* Kaythryn Bigelow – Detroit
* Angelia Jolie – First They Killed My Father
* Dee Rees – Mudbound#GoldenGlobes— John W. Ellis (@JohnWEllis) January 8, 2018
Wonder Woman
Going into the ceremony, we knew ahead of time that Wonder Woman wouldn’t be shown any love at this year’s Globes. It missed out on nominations in every category. But that doesn’t make its snub any less upsetting.
The only DC Extended Universe film to get almost unequivocal support and love from fans, critics and cinemagoers, Wonder Woman was a triumph that won over a new breed of young female fans who found a new idol in Gal Gadot’s version of Diana Prince. Bucking the trend for female-fronted superhero movies, and coming in ahead in the US box office stakes of every other comic book movie released in 2017, it’s a great pity the Globes couldn’t recognise its myriad achievements.
Dunkirk
This powerful World War II masterpiece from Christopher Nolan took an inventive and compelling approach to its storytelling and was a brutal sensory attack that plunged viewers right into the heart of the devastating siege turned triumphant evacuation. It was spectacular, gripping and heart-stopping, telling the true-life tale in a way it hadn’t been seen on screen before. FANDOM’s five-star review praised Dunkirk for giving “the war film a shot in the arm”. It’s a travesty that it didn’t win in any of the categories in which it was nominated.
Interestingly, Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, the events of which take place at the same time as Dunkirk, was recognised. Oldman picked up the Best Actor award.
Honouring the arguably smaller stories like Darkest Hour was a theme of the night. Joe Wright’s biopic tells the less spectacular behind-the-scenes tale of the flawed but committed man that was Winston Churchill and the efforts, decisions — and speeches — he made that contributed to wartime success when he came to power. This year’s Globes saw Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri — the story of a mum fighting for justice – beat Dunkirk and emerge top of the film pile with four awards. Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age tale Lady Bird, meanwhile, picked up the Best Comedy or Musical gong, beating the flashy The Greatest Showman along the way.
Favourite TV
Game of Thrones and Stranger Things found themselves side by side in the Best TV Series category. It felt like one of these two hugely popular shows would walk it, but it was difficult to say which. Handmaid’s Tale was the eventual winner, of course. Margaret Atwood’s foreboding tale which paints a bleak future for women, walked away with the award and deserved it – especially in the current climate and the nature of these awards which gave a platform to the Time’s Up and #MeToo campaigns. But it’s hard not to feel that Thrones and Things were overlooked.
It’s the second time Stranger Things has been snubbed at the ceremony – last year’s nominations for Best Television Series and Best Actress also resulted in the show missing out.
Game of Thrones has surprisingly also never won in the Best Television Series category, despite being nominated five times. We’re hoping that as Thrones approaches its final season in 2019, we’ll see it rewarded for its quality and popularity then.