A Recap of the 2021 Golden Globes

Erica Schindler, Online EIC

The 78th Golden Globe Awards took place on Sunday, Feb. 28. The night was hosted by Tina Fey, who hosted from New York City, and Amy Poehler, who broadcasted from Los Angeles. The show was the first time the Golden Globes were awarded virtually, with nominees and winners streaming in from their own homes.

 

Fey and Poehlor opened the night with a comedic monologue in which they poked fun at the virtual nature of the show. During the ceremony, Jane Fonda was presented with the Cecil B. DeMille Award and Norman Lear received the Carol Burnett Award.

 

The big winners of the night included the Netflix show The Crown which fictionally chronicles the life of the British royal family. Nomadland, a movie about a woman who journeys through the American west, also took home top prizes.

 

The nominees and winners of some of awards’ most prestigious categories included:

 

Best Television Series – Drama

“The Crown” – Winner

“Lovecraft Country”

“The Mandalorian”

“Ozark”

“Ratched”

 

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy

“Schitt’s Creek” – Winner

“Emily in Paris”

“The Flight Attendant”

“The Great”

“Ted Lasso”

 

Best Motion Picture – Drama

“Nomadland” – Winner

“The Father”

“Mank”

“Promising Young Woman”

“The Trial of the Chicago 7”

 

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

“Borat Subsequent Movie Film” – Winner

“Hamilton”

“Music”

“Palm Spring”

“The Prom”

 

Best Director – Motion Picture

Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland” – Winner

Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”

David Fincher, “Mank”

Regina King, “One Night in Miami”

Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”

 

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language

“Minari” – Winner

“La Llorona”

“Another Round”

“The Life Ahead”

“Two of Us”

 

A full list of nominees and winners can be found here.

 

Notably, over half of the television awards went to Netflix shows. Chloé Zhao became the first Asian woman and the third woman to win the Golden Globe for best director. Chadwick Boseman, who died in 2020, was awarded the golden globe for best actor in a motion picture-drama. His wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, delivered an emotional acceptance speech on his behalf.

 

The award show was tinged with controversy regarding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the voting body that decides the winners each year. The HFPA does not have one Black voting member, a fact that sparked outrage prior to the show.

 

This year’s Golden Globes fell by 62% in total viewers, a trend that has been seen in various other award shows over the past year.