Golden Globes: ‘Unnecessary, Dishonest, Self-Serving’
By Movieguide® Staff
After delays due to the pandemic, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association finally hosted their 78th annual Golden Globes Awards on Sunday, Feb. 28.
But the awards show, which often airs ahead of the Academy Awards, is widely considered to be annoying at its best and corrupt at its worst.
Freelance journalist Brad Slager recently wrote for TownHall: “[The Golden Globes] is openly recognized in the entertainment industry to be a sham of an awards show that is put on by a corrupt organization, one in which no one in entertainment takes seriously. Yet everyone from the studios down to the performers works on gaining approval of this group, pouring forth time and fortunes, in order to get recognition.”
Even notable left-leaning outlets call out the award show each year as unnecessary, dishonest, and self-serving.
Vox reported:
The Golden Globes can be fun to watch, but that doesn’t erase the fact that they’re — well, let’s not sugarcoat it. They’re super annoying. Recent news has underlined the many reasons why: They’re corrupt, the organization that gives them out is pretty shady, and the nominations are frequently so off-the-wall that people usually spend more time arguing about them than consulting them as a helpful guide for catch-up viewing. In terms of honors, they mean very little, but we keep talking about them every year mainly because they air on TV.
The HFPA has just under 90 members compared to the Academy’s nearly 6,000. It is no secret that the 87 members have an unethical relationship with the Golden Globe’s TV provider, NBC.
“One takeaway from this fascinating/appalling LATimes investigation of the Golden Globes: Most Globe voters are essentially indirectly compensated employees of NBC,” Journalist Mark Harris noted of the LA Times report.
One takeaway from this fascinating/appalling @LATimes investigation of the Golden Globes: Most Globe voters are essentially indirectly compensated employees of NBC. https://t.co/poOVAMl7JJ
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) February 21, 2021
But the money invested has resulted in the Golden Globes Awards establishing itself within the entertainment industry’s culture.
“The HFPA draws in tens of millions just through the television broadcast rights. The outfit also earns attention from Hollywood through various charitable works, most of which have celebrities who play along to earn donations for their foundations and other endeavors,” Slager reported. “The HFPA has long been seen as willing to be influenced by generosity in these matters.”
The odd relationship between celebrities, studios, and the HFPA has resulted in some notably confusing nominations of movies and TV shows that underperformed at the box office due to their immoral content.
Vox reported:
The nominations for the Netflix show Emily in Paris, one for Best Comedy or Musical TV Show, and one for its star, Lily Collins, are a couple of the biggest 2021 Globe head-scratchers. The show was a popular binge-watch for a pandemic-weary audience, who catapulted it onto the top 10 most-streamed Nielsen list in October, but it was barely tolerated by critics and, if you tracked its reception on social media, you know a sizable swath of the audience watched just to make fun of it. Even if you liked Emily in Paris, it was hard to deny the show was little more than vapid, amusing trash.
The overall aversion to the Golden Globe Awards supports Movieguide®’s Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry statistics, which show that uplifting movies marketed to families—and that include spiritual values acknowledging God—earn the most money.
Watch Movieguide® Awards Broadcast on Easter Sunday, April 4, on REELZ.
