Underrated: The Golden Globes

Many critics love blasting the award show season in Hollywood as a masturbatory extravaganza for the rich and beautiful and no award show better encapsulates the focus of their hatred than the Golden Globes. 

A literal dinner party, The Globes feature stars of film and television in drunken revelry.  What’s worse the awards are handed out by a relatively tiny minority of entertainment journalists, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association.  This small group of voters leaves the door open for head scratching results.  Many believe there are other, more prestigious awards that don’t nearly get the attention the Globes get simply because they aren’t the “event” the Globes have become.  But it is BECAUSE of all these reasons, and not in spite of them, that the Golden Globes are so much fun.

The best part about the Globes compared to other award shows is that it is a party.  The guests are drinking, sitting at tables, and looking like they’re actually having a good time rather than dutifully sitting through an award ceremony.  Then, of course, there is the occasional gem when a winner or presenter comes up to the stage after having perhaps one too many of said drinks (Looking at you, Diddy, this ain’t no Ciroc commercial!).

The criticism of the small sample size supplied by the HFPA is a legitimate one, but both TV and Film have their own, more prestigious, award ceremonies to fix any injustices.  Besides, its hard to get too upset over someone not winning a little statue for something as subjective as acting or directing skills, especially when all of the nominees are wildly successful, famous, and probably gorgeous.

Something to remember if you ever find yourself in the “Lucky to be nominated” category of an award ceremony like the Globes: take a look around the room, you’ve already won.

So, watching the Globes, is it going to change your life?  No.  Is it even going to help you grow as a person in any meaningful way?  Probably not.  Is it a self absorbed night of people patting themselves of the back?  Sure.  Is it a fun excuse to drink and laugh with your friends?  Definitely.

Like so much of Hollywood itself, it is there to entertain.  So just enjoy it.