The 2023 Golden Globes may seem like just another award show with the same actors, trophies, and flashy outfits, but this year’s event stood out for its novel films, controversial speakers, and the subtle foreshadowing of drama.
Awards:
The Best Film Award for Drama went to “Oppenheimer”. This movie was a massive sensation in 2023. A dark World War II story unfolds using state-of-the-art cinematography and utilizes more practical effects instead of CGI. The emotional and philosophical wars that raged in the characters’ consciousness were expertly portrayed by actors Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt, among others.
The director Christopher Nolan said, “If movies are a sort of collective dream, there’s a sense in which Oppenheimer‘s a collective nightmare. Of all of the subject matter I’ve dealt with, it’s certainly the darkest.”
Nolan’s movie paints a foreboding reality, made even more terrifying because it’s based on real events about the creation and detonation of the atomic bomb.
Oppenheimer | The Destroyer of Worlds
“We knew the world would not be the same.” Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer said, “A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent.”
Another award-winner, “Barbie” had nine nominations and came away with the first ever Cinematic Box Office Award, a category added this year. Like Oppenheimer, this film cast a unique angle on the significance behind a child’s toy that many girls grew up idolizing. Director Greta Gerwig created a comedy that integrated the ‘Barbie’ world into a live-action film.
“You know, Barbie’s been around since 1959, and everyone knows who she is, and everyone has an opinion,” Gerwig said, “and she’s run the gamut of being ahead of time, behind time. She’s a hero, she’s a villain.”
“Barbie” was a perfect example of never judging a book by its cover. The underlying themes, such as finding your identity, combined with the witty script brought millions of people out to see this movie, many dressed in the classic Barbie pink.
The Barbenheimer phenomenon was a wake-up call for the film industry and showed that movie-goers do value an exceptional film.
“It’s clear from the box office that audiences are looking for things they haven’t seen before.” Nolan said, “you can’t deny filmgoers’ desire for novelty,”
To view all nominations and winners, visit this website.
The Drama:
Of course this wouldn’t be a celebrity event without all the celebrity drama. There was enough hot water thrown around at this event to satisfy the most vapid reality TV lovers. This year’s host of the Golden Globes, Jo Koy, received major backlash from the event. He started off the evening with a questionable joke about “Oppenheimer”
“My New Year’s resolution for 2024 is to finish Oppenheimer in 2025.” said Koy, “I love Oppenheimer, especially the first season.”
The joke was a major flop and he came off as rude and ignorant. The crowd offered a few laughs however was generally unresponsive to his not-so-humorous comments. He then goes on to compare Barbie to Oppenheimer.
“‘Oppenheimer’ is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project,” Koy said. “And ‘Barbie’ is on a plastic doll with big boobies.”
The subtly misogynistic joke was inappropriate and the crowd was awkwardly quiet as Koy continued to dig himself an even bigger hole. He defended his dignity by saying that he got the gig 10 days ago, and he didn’t write all the jokes. However, even if he didn’t write the script himself he chose to say those things. Not the classiest of moves from the comedian.
Taylor Swift also took the brunt of one of Koy’s jokes. Koy made a jab about her screen time during NFL games versus on the show, however his joke was not well received, and Swift’s displeasure at the comment was obvious. She reportedly left early, when “Taylor Swift: The Era’s Tour” film lost to “Barbie”.
While Swift showed obvious ire towards Koy, days after the show when interviewed Koy said, “I support her, I love her work. I got nieces that I bought tickets for. There’s no ill intent in that joke. The joke is about the NFL.”
Swift has yet to respond to Koy’s joke or his explanation.
Timothy Chalomet went mostly unnoticed during the show, other than his extensive PDA with Kylie Jenner. Later, there was some petty drama between Jenner and Selena Gomez, who reportedly wanted a picture with Chalomet. Oddly, Kylie refused, which prompted some awkward questions.
The Fallout:
After a lot of controversy about Koy’s opening monologue, he had some explaining to do. One of the first things he did was publicly apologize for slandering his script writers.
“I love my writers. I love all three of them and I shouted them out.” Koy said, “They busted their ass, man. There’s a lot of greats that make rookie moves. That was a rookie move.”
He took ownership of his failure and tried to fix a sticky situation as best he could. While it may not warrant total forgiveness, his intentions remain honest, even if his nerves clouded his judgment.
A few days after the awards show, Gomez spoke up claiming she had never asked for a picture with Chalemet, and she didn’t know where the disinformation had come from. Initially, gossip sites speculated that Chalamet was angry with Kylie and Gomez for such frivolous drama. However, that was just gossip and Chalamet later told reporters that neither he nor Jenner or Gomez had any beef.
In recent years, the Golden Globes have faced controversy and their fair share of scandals. The most recent was in 2021, when the awards were accused of lacking diversity. After many bumps, the Globes changed ownership and became a for-profit event. The results were wildly successful as this years viewership numbers went up by almost 50%, nearly 9.4 million live broadcastings.
While numbers are still low compared to viewership in 2020 and years before, they seem to be bouncing back. It seems Hollywood just couldn’t let go of the high-caliber celebrity event.
All the fuss and all the stars in one room for one night created a stir, just as it does every year. 2023 was no different, but a closer look reveals many interesting morsels that leave the viewers and celebs themselves wondering, “What happens next?”
