The red carpet of the Golden Globes award ceremony, in its 75th edition, wore a distinctly radical look as a host of celebrities donned black outfits to express support for Time’s Up, a Hollywood initiative against sexual harassment.
And it was the flavour of the ceremony as impassioned speeches cast shadow on the #MeToo movement that has taken down various male celebrities in the industry, including media mogul Harvey Weinstein. The biggest talking point of the evening though remained to be Oprah Winfrey’s rousing speech after she became the first black woman to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award.
On the night of many firsts, Sterling K. Brown also became the first African-American actor to win in the best actor in a TV drama category for This Is Us, and Aziz Ansari the maiden Asian actor to win a Golden Globe for best actor in a TV comedy for Master of None. Among the biggest winners on the night were the female-centric films Three Billboards and Lady Bird while Nicole Kidman’s Big Little Lies also won big on the occasion.
Natalie Portman’s tongue-in-cheek jowl on an all-male nominee list for the Best Director category put a fitting conclusion to an evening that will be remembered for challenging the status quo.
The electrifying event has set the tone for the rest of the awards season as we await the biggest night in cinema, the Oscars within a couple of months’ time. Here are some of the most memorable quotes from the night:
“It’s 2018. Marijuana is finally allowed and sexual harassment finally isn’t.”
“For the male nominees in the room tonight, this is the first time in three months it won’t be terrifying to hear your name read out loud.”
Host Seth Meyers joked, referencing the flood of recent sexual-misconduct controversies within the entertainment industry.
“For too long women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men. But their time is up.”
Oprah Winfrey shared her historic moment with women who have “endured years of abuse and assault, because they like my mother had bills to pay children to feed and dreams to pursue.”
“May we teach our children that speaking out without the fear of retribution is our culture’s new north star.”
Laura Dern, who was also honored for her role on Big Little Lies, condemned the “culture of silence” that was once “normalized” in her industry.
“And here are the all-male nominees.”
Before announcing the nominees, actress Natalie Portman took the opportunity to highlight the absence of a female name on the list. It included Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water; Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk; Ridley Scott for All the Money in the World; and Steven Spielberg for The Post.
“I heard them say something about — I was the only woman to get the Best Director award. And you know, that was 1984. That was 34 years ago. Folks, time’s up! We need more women directors and more women to be nominated for Best Director. There are so many films out there that are so good directed by women.”
The only woman to have ever won the category: Barbra Streisand (for Yentl in 1984), said on the night.
Image source: Screenshots from live stream
