The Golden Globes 2023 Were the Affirmative-Action Awards

The Golden Globes returned from purgatory last night. The show gave the impression that they successfully purged the racism that caused Hollywood to send them there.

Except that the Oscars committed the same sins in spades. Remember #OscarsSoWhite? Yet Hollywood granted them absolution.

In other words, Hollywood condemned the Globes for discrimination while discriminating against the Globes. The hypocrisy it displayed in this case is worthy of an Oscar.

The Golden Globes return

Notable figures from television and film boycotted the Globes after the scandal but returned in droves this year, including Steven Spielberg, whose movie ‘The Fabelmans’ won the top drama prize as well as best director, and the cast of ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ who cleaned up in the comedy categories.

With tons of booze and little food (per ‘White Lotus’ winner Mike White), the Globes appeared to be back in good favor — controversy be damned.

(The Washington Post, January 11, 2023)

But the controversy moved some A-listers to return to their Golden Globes. For them, simply condemning racist members wasn’t damning enough.

Of course, inquiring minds want to know if the redeemed Globes will now return their awards. After all, these A-listers have long recovered from their fit of self-righteousness. And now, they’re probably itching to reclaim their trophies. Especially since they’ll never win another Globe after dissing the award like they did.

#GoldenGlobeSoBlack

The ‘redeemed’ Globes seemed to nominate more Blacks than even the BET Awards. They even awarded Eddie Murphy the Globes’ prestigious Cecil B. DeMille award. That’s how eager they were to show redemption.

Of course, the Globes were merely mimicking the Oscars, who paraded Black artists for their own redemption narrative.

But stay tuned. It’s likely only a matter of time before we’re lamenting #GlobesSoWhite…Again. And that will be just another case of following the Oscars’s lead, which I commented on in “Ghosts of Nightmare Past: #OscarsSoWhite…Again!

That said, rushing to nominate Blacks to fend off boycotts is not the path to redemption. The Oscars, Golden Globes, and all other awards shows should finally realize this. They need to integrate their voting membership. Diverse nominations will follow.