The Golden Globes should be a night to celebrate cinematic success and appreciate the great work of actors, film makers, writers, producers and composers. However, the celebratory aspect was overshadowed in this year’s show when multiple awkward and insensitive jokes repulsed the audience.
Jo Koy hosted this year’s show on January 7th, 2024, and sparked controversy with problematic remarks. He not-so-subtly belittled the revolutionary Barbie movie. Across the world, women and girls bonded over the film’s representation of the shared struggles of womanhood. However, after applauding Oppenheimer for being an adaptation of a “Pulitzer prize winning book,” Koy claimed the extent of Barbie was “a plastic doll with big boobies.” Whether this remark was on or off the script, the audience was clearly uncomfortable.
This comment not only made the movie seem silly and immature, but also exploited Margot Robbie, who acted as ‘stereotypical Barbie.’ Barbie is purposeful, and this brief mention made the movie sound like it didn’t have a meaning. As a film that was so deeply meaningful for so many women, it is disappointing to hear someone completely ignore this message. Not only that, it is devastating for Greta Gerwig (the director), to hear her hard work disrespected on a show that was supposed to be celebrating the achievements of her industry.
The movie highlighted themes of hypersexuality, the balance between feminism and the patriarchy, and female experience of simply existing. Koy’s comment ruthlessly diminished these broad, ever-important issues into nothingness with just one joke about Robbie’s body. Frustrating is hardly the word to encapsulate the situation; even after Robbie’s long list of accomplishments, she is still being diminished to her appearance, a problem that many women continue to face.
This comment, as well as some other questionable moments, sparked controversy over the host and writers. However, the Golden Globes brought up a much larger problem in regard to the film industry as a whole. For every Greta Gerwig that takes important strides in the film industry, there are still people to stunt their progress. These comments are a wake up call for Hollywood. Women are still being objectified, and the industry is still mostly dominated by men.
Between nudity in films and costume choices, exploitation of women is ever-present in hollywood. Blame this on personal choice, among other excuses, but it needs to change. The new generation of actresses needs to know that they can act in a movie without feeling helpless, used for their looks or cast just to play an accessory to the men.
In a year that was so important for women in the film industry, the Golden Globes should have been highlighting this. However, these ignorant comments dominated the focus of the evening instead of the amazing female-directed films centered around female stories. In a show that already has its fair share of controversy, this year does not bode well for the reviews.
The Golden Globes brought up long-ingrained problems in Hollywood, and gender equity can’t be fully achieved until the film industry stops trying to pretend the problem doesn’t exist.
