No Women Were Nominated In Key Golden Globes Categories Again, And People Are Furious
No female Best Director, no female-written Best Screenplay.
At the last Golden Globes, perpetual badass Natalie Portman introduced the all-male nominees for Best Director as exactly that: all-male.
Portman was immediately commended for her spur-of-the-moment decision to call out the sexism that undercuts so much of the industry, and the Golden Globe nominations in particular.
But whatever online chatter she might have generated, it doesn’t seem like the public attention made any real difference. This year, once again, no women have been nominated for either Best Director or Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes.
That’s despite the fact that films directed by women have scored big with critics throughout the year. A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood, directed by Marielle Heller, Honey Boy, directed by Alma Har’el, Hustlers, directed by Lorene Scafaria, Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig, and The Farewell, directed by Lulu Wang have all won acclaim.
In fact, The Farewell has even been nominated for Best Foreign film, while Wang herself hasn’t picked up a single nod for either scripting or directing.
Congrats to @thumbelulu, @oliviawilde, Marielle Heller, @LoreneScafaria, @NishaGanatra, Greta Gerwig and @kasi_lemmons who each directed a Golden Globe nominated performance this year.
— Women Film Directors (@women_direct) December 9, 2019
Understandably, the public at large has reacted with shock and anger at the lack of diversity in the nominations (only one of the directors isn’t a straight white man, and that’s Parasite‘s Bong Joon-Ho.)
As far as writing and directing goes, it seems the Golden Globes solely values traditionally male stories. I see absolutely no reason why ‘Booksmart’ or ‘Hustlers’ weren’t nominated for both writing and directing, other than that they’re exclusively female stories.
— Jill Gutowitz (@jillboard) December 9, 2019
So…no nominations for Lupita Nyong’o, no nominations for ‘Us’, no nominations for ‘Euphoria’, no nominations for ‘When They See Us,’ and no female directors nominated…
And we’re supposed to be excited for the Golden Globes? Nah. pic.twitter.com/KWe3vdqUq3
— Affinity Magazine (@TheAffinityMag) December 9, 2019
the golden globes nominated todd phillips for best director over greta gerwig, lulu wang, marielle heller, and lorene scafaria…. AND FOR WHAT? pic.twitter.com/X3bEyFvKkr
— h (@youresoartdeco) December 9, 2019
In the year of Fleabag, Killing Eve, Little Women, When They See Us, Booksmart, Harriet, Hustlers, Late Night and many more…
No lady writers.
No lady directors.
Again. #GoldenGlobe https://t.co/dO13bRGqU6— Caitlin D. Fryers ? (@cdemrys) December 9, 2019
They really didn’t nominate any female directors for the Golden Globes? pic.twitter.com/HqmDko7akn
— The wall Adam Driver punched (@gabbie_wolf) December 9, 2019
This is a fight that’s also being waged by those in the industry itself. Since the nominations were announced, Har’el has been particularly vocal, taking to her Twitter in order to argue for real change.
In fact, Har’el is going one step further in terms of calling for a shake-up. She wants a new category made for female directors, just as there’s a separation between actors and actresses.
Of course, there’s upsides and downsides to an approach like that. Sure, it gives more opportunities for women to be honoured — but the actor/actress divide already props up an outdated gender binary. What happens when a GNC actor or director needs to be nominated?
“Unless we have a new category for women directors — the same way we have [separate] actor and actress categories — we won’t see any changes.
I will not live my life as a filmmaker who plans to keep working subjected to a group of voters that doesn’t see us.” https://t.co/Keg42ouHFy
— Alma Har'el? (@Almaharel) December 10, 2019
For his part, the head of the Hollywood Foreign Press has defended the nominations. “What happened is that we don’t vote by gender,” he told Variety. “We vote by film and accomplishment.”
Clearly, the whole thing is a mess. But one thing’s for sure: the industry has to change. And fast.