Media awards have little intrinsic interest for thinking people, although they can provide some information about what various media "stakeholder" organizations think about things. Of course, since the media have control of the nation’s means of mass communication, we can usually figure out what they think by watching what they do in the products they create.
Nonetheless, events such as the Golden Globe awards can provide some insights into what these people think, or at least what they want us to think they think. In the case of the GGs, that means foreign journalists, a group who can hardly be said to represent Middle American values but are a good indicator of the ideas the East and West Coast elites and would-be elites hold.
In the current year’s honorees one sees a deliberate attempt to call attention to a few things the fashionables think are good:
- "ethnic diversity" (Slumdog Millionaire)
- struggling against emotional problems (Heath Ledger, Mickey Rourke, In Treatment)
- criticizing corruption and ineptness in business and government (Mad Men, Recount, John Adams, 30 Rock).
Other than that, all there really is to it are the ladies’ gowns and hairdos.
Here’s the full list of winners:
MOTION PICTURES:
–Picture, Drama: "Slumdog Millionaire."
–Picture, Musical or Comedy: "Vicky Christina Barcelona."
–Actor, Drama: Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler."
–Kate Winslet, "Revolutionary Road."
–Director: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire."
–Actor, Musical or Comedy: Colin Farrell, "In Bruges."
–Actress, Musical or Comedy: Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky."
–Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight."
–Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, "The Reader."
–Foreign Language Film: "Waltz With Bashir."
–Animated Film: "Wall-E."
–Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire."
–Original Score: A.R. Rahman, "Slumdog Millionaire."
–Original Song: "The Wrestler" (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen), "The Wrestler."
TELEVISION:
–Series, Drama: "Mad Men."
–Actor, Drama: Gabriel Byrne, "In Treatment."
–Actress, Drama: Anna Paquin, "True Blood."
–Series, Musical or Comedy: "30 Rock."
–Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock."
–Actress, Musical or Comedy: Tina Fey, "30 Rock."
–Miniseries or Movie: "John Adams."
–Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Laura Linney, "John Adams."
–Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Paul Giammatti, "John Adams."
–Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Laura Dern, "Recount."
–Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Tom Wilkinson, "John Adams."
Cecil B. DeMille Award: Steven Spielberg.
Sam:
While it’s heartening to see actresses like Amy Adams are willing to display their golden globes (and, conversely, that actors like Mickey Rourke are not) at these “ceremonies,” it has long been recognized that such “do’s” are commercially and politically motivated. (The same, as far as I can discern, also goes for the Oscars, the Nobels, and the Pulitzers — the last, ironically enough, being intended originally to promote a better understanding of American life but which from its inception has gone to great lengths at almost every opportunity to reward anything and everything that excoriates American values.)
The Golden Globes and the like are merely popularity contests, high school student council elections writ large. Whenever I do a movie review, I punctiliously exclude mentioning such awards — the singular exception being the technical achievement acknowledgements, which actually have an objective, rather than a subjective, basis.
Best regards,
Mike