Written by: Jaylin Hardin | Sports Editor
The Golden Globes is an award ceremony held annually to recognize the achievements of actors, directors, composers and even the movies themselves. “Oppenheimer”, “Barbie” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” all walked away with awards this year.
The awards rewarded are as follows:
Best Drama — “Oppenheimer”
Best Actress in a Drama — Lily Gladstone in “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Best Actor in a Drama — Cillian Murphy in “Oppenheimer”
Best Director — Christopher Nolan in “Oppenheimer”
Cinematic and Box Office Achievement — “Barbie”
Other winners include Studio Ghibli’s “The Boy and the Heron,” Billie Eilish’s original song “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie” and director Yorgos Lanthimos’ comedy “Poor Things,” starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo. However, it is not the Golden Globe winners that have been generating a buzz on social media, nor is it Lily Gladstone’s acceptance speech, where she spoke in the Blackfeet language.
Nope, everyone is worked up about Jo Koy and his “jokes” about “Barbie” and Taylor Swift — whose “Eras Tour” movie was also nominated.
Koy’s monologue included the comparison of “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie.” “Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project, and Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies,” Koy said.
Almost immediately following the slight, he went after Swift, joking that the difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL was that the Globes showed fewer shots of Taylor Swift.
These “jokes” have taken precedence over the achievements of the directors and actors who worked tirelessly on these movies. Rather than celebrating the fact that “Oppenheimer,” a movie showing the horrific beauties of war, and “Barbie,” a movie celebrating womanhood, won in their categories, everyone is now focused on how much of an absolute joke the Golden Globes award ceremony has become.
These jokes have especially been met with criticism online, with many users saying that 2023 was the year for girlhood and that Koy watered it down to Swift being the star of the NFL and “Barbie” being simply about a plastic doll. “Barbie” and “The Eras Tour Movie” both were huge box office successes, as well as Swift’s Eras Tour garnering millions of dollars. Swift has indeed aided the NFL in their viewership — increasing 7% every week since she started to attend the games in support of her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. The NFL is now at its highest viewership since 2015.
Lily Gladstone received some buzz online — not as much as she deserved — for being the first Indigenous actress to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress. When she received her award, she spoke in her Native Blackfeet language. Language experts at Simon Fraser University and the University of Montana said that her speech translated to: “Hello my friends and relatives. My name is Eagle Woman. I am Blackfoot. I love you all.” Gladstone grew up on the Blackfoot reservation in Montana.
Whether one follows the Golden Globes or not, what should be focused on is the achievements of these movies, and how they have affected audiences around the world.
Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu
