Writing By Laura

Since the Golden Globes aired last night (Sunday, January 5, 2020) I thought I’d post a reflection on the winners as well as an updated ballot that highlights who won each award. As I said last week, I will do an Oscar ballot similar to this (but more detailed on where/how to watch the movies) once Oscar nominations are announced on January 13, 2020.

The Golden Globes 2020 Winners

Golden Globes 2020 Ballot Winners (my ballot from earlier with the winners reflected). The Golden Globes official site also has an updated list.

My Reflection

Honestly I was underwhelmed. There wasn’t a movie that swept the awards and that’s always kind of exciting when that happens. I was also underwhelmed by three things I observed. The first is a major one and if Hollywood and the film industry doesn’t remedy it they’re going to lose even the diehard movie fans (like myself).

1. #OscarsSoWhite (and male): In 2015/2016 #OscarsSoWhite became trending on social media and a topic discussed at water coolers globally. It was started by Amber Reign who observed the limited number of People of Color (POC) nominated that year. Discussions were had and it felt like in the intervening years that the academy and Hollywood had listened. However, after watching 2020’s Golden Globes I was struck by the lack of cultural and gender diversity. It was really disheartening to see. I couldn’t help but wonder what writer/director Greta Gerwig (Little Women) thought as her significant other Noah Baumbach was nominated in categories she should have been too (director, screenplay, movie-drama). She looked happy and supportive so I’m just bringing my own opinions and observations to it. I’m sure she was fine. But the question hangs out there for me: if she had been a man (a white man) would she have been nominated? (She was last year for “Lady Bird”. Here’s an article about Baumbach and Gerwig.) As a movie and awards show fan I don’t want to have those thoughts. Right now however, Hollywood is going back to its so white and so male ways and it’s really discouraging. To read more about #OscarsSoWhite read this article and this one and this one and do your own research too.
2. Actors/Actresses don’t react, seem genuine, yet use award shows to preach: I don’t mind politics or political statements. However, I DO mind them when the person delivering them does so to try and coerce me. And I feel coerced because they show no other emotions. This is really my own thing but something that I notice every awards show is the lack of emotion and reaction from actors. It came into focus for me when Ricky Gervais was constantly referring to certain people and the camera would pan to them for a REACTION. He did this several times with Martin Scorsese and Mr. Scorsese reacted EVERY TIME! He’s NOT an actor but was far more genuine. Yet whenever one of the actors from Scorsese’s nominated film “The Irishman” was shown they always looked grim and serious and like they hadn’t laughed in decades (or ever). It’s not like they don’t know they’re on camera.
3. It’s a SHOW that is televised therefore it should be WATCHABLE: If you asked people if they watched awards shows the answer I used to get was “No. They’re long and boring and award movies I don’t care about.” I stopped asking the question because I agreed with the answer but still felt drawn to watch awards shows. Now that I experienced a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) that’s given me a severe hearing loss and hearing distortions (read more about that here) I am entirely reliant on closed captions. And closed captions usually are challenging to watch on live programs. I really think all awards shows need to be assessed for watch-ability (on all levels, including captions) and maybe they’ll draw an audience.

New Feature: #CreativityForDays

On Friday I launched a new blog feature called #CreativityForDays. It’s my attempt to create something every day. Here’s what the first week looked like:

Memoir Writing Update

I was cuddling my little Selby puppy and became inspired to write a chapter in my memoir on just her. Because I had a thought that rocked my world and had to write about it (how’s that for a teaser).

Housekeeping Note

According to my regular blog schedule and posting calendar, this entry was supposed to be a book review. However, with all the movie awards shows ramping up I might do some extra pop culture posts this month.