Critics Savage Golden Globe Award-#GlobesSoMale?-For Not Honoring Women

Say what you will about 2015’s #OscarsSoWhite hashtag campaign. It worked.

That year’s Oscar nominees were too white, we were told. They are sparking a cultural rebellion that put diversity atop Hollywood's check list.

The awards industry now genuflects to diversity at every possible occasion. Award show presenters are aggressively diverse, as are the hosts of various shows. Think Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall (Oscars), Jerrod Carmichael (Golden Globes) and Kenan Thompson (Emmys), to name a few recent emcees.

FILE PHOTO: Will Smith (R) hits Chris Rock as Rock spoke on stage during the 94th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 27, 2022. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

The Critics' Choice Association now holds celebrations for blacks, Latino and AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) art.

The annual Oscars gala, its ratings a far cry from just a few years back, mentions diversity in its monologues and acceptance speeches.

And the Oscars will begin mandating diversity rules for potential Best Picture recipients in 2024 (although one could argue it’s already kicked in in spirit).

The Golden Globes Cannot Save Itself

Now, the reeling Golden Globes are suffering another round of diversity blues. The annual gala didn’t throw a televised event last year after its voting members were deemed insufficiently diverse.

The organization responded by adding more people of color to its voting bloc. They are making the group more female than male in numbers. It didn’t stop the woke Hollywood Reporter from declaring this year’s Globes honorees don’t include enough female representation.

Golden Globes: Women Directors Shut Out of 2023 Nominations. The move follows two consecutive years of multiple nominations — and wins — for female filmmakers in the category.

The complaint in question is for one category, mind you, but the outlet’s diversity checklist doesn’t stop there.

The 2023 directing nominees — Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans), James Cameron (Avatar: The Way of Water), Baz Luhrmann (Elvis), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once) and Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) — are also predominantly white. Kwan is becoming only the fifth director of Asian descent to be nominated in the category and only the third potential Asian winner, behind Ang Lee and Chloé Zhao. 

To be fair to The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg hasn’t accomplished much during his career. He was clearly selected to support White Nationalism and/or The Patriarchy. That Cameron fella? Another no-name with a thin resume benefiting from his cis white male privilege.

Hollywood Is Guilty Of Over-Correcting

This is where Hollywood is in 2022, and it’s a self-inflicted wound that won’t heal anytime soon.

Identity Politics is now front and center in La La Land, from headlines surrounding various projects to the cast selections and award nominees. It’s why we see cartoonishly diverse commercials during NFL games and race-swapped characters across the pop culture landscape.

Just two examples? The upcoming “Little Mermaid” live-action film features a young black actress as Ariel (Halle Bailey). Issa Rae will voice Spider-Woman in 2023’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”

One reason for the Diversity or Else agenda? Guilt.

Why Doesn't Talent Stand Above All

Hollywood diversity was an oxymoron for decades. The industry short-changed diverse talent in favor of established, mostly white stars. While the culture at large remained diverse, Tinsel Town looked much different.

So, rather than start accepting artists based on their gifts, the industry is bending over backward to apologize for its past. And, in doing so, it’s taking that guilt to extreme levels.

And it’s the artists who may suffer come awards season.

Imagine a person of color making a brilliant movie and dreaming of Oscar night glory. Now, that person may question if their hard work earned them the golden statuette, or voters feared another hashtag campaign and wrote their name in to prevent it.

Awards in general are being slowly diminished as a result. Is it any wonder the Oscars can’t draw a large crowd in the #OscarsSoWhite era?