Chicagoans shine at Golden Globes

McDormand and Winfrey at the Golden Globes

Chicago-born Frances McDormand, Highland Park’s Rachel Brosnahan and Oprah Winfrey stood out in a sea of black dresses which symbolized the #Metoo #Timesup movements by women in Hollywood during the 75th Golden Globes.

McDormand was named “Best Actress in a Drama” for her portrayal of a woman who demands justice in the excellent Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri.

And just like men have done for so long, they tried to censor the actress when she was bleeped after saying, “Shite.”

Brosnahan, who plays a budding stand-up comic on the new Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, won for “Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Series.”

The awards held last night were the first major ceremony to be held since the sexual harassment accusations against Harvey Weinstein were revealed. The evening began with host and Northwestern University grad, Seth Meyers saying, “Good evening ladies and remaining gentlemen” and continued with biting commentary from presenters such as Natalie Portman noting that there were no female directors nominated.

Other highlights of Meyers’ monologue were such choice jokes as:

It’s 2018, marijuana is finally allowed and sexual harassment finally isn’t. It’s gonna be a good year!

They tried to get a woman to host this show, they really did. They said, “Hey, how would you like to come and be judged by some of the most powerful people in Hollywood?” And women were like, “Hmm, well, where is it?” And they said, “It’s at a hotel,” and long story short, I’m your host tonight.

“I was happy to hear they’re going to do another season of House of Cards. Is Christopher Plummer available for that, too? I hope he can do a Southern accent, ’cause Kevin Spacey sure couldn’t. Oh, is that too mean? To Kevin Spacey?”

 
Almost every woman who won an award found a way to connect her project with the current movement against sexual harassment—an easy task, considering that most of the big winners (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Handmaid’s Tale, Big Little Lies, Lady Bird, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) tackled gender politics head on.

Some of the attempts at topicality felt slightly forced, notably Salma Hayek trying to get the audience to yell “Time’s Up” in unison, and presenter Geena Davis joking that all the Best Actor in a Motion Picture nominees should give half their salaries to the women in their films.

Indie darling Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird took home the “Best Musical or Comedy,” which became another statement (or slight slap) at the Hollywood Foreign Press for not nominating her for best director.

And finally, there was Oprah. The one-time Chicago talk show host gave a rousing speech during her acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime award that not only had people talking about the speech but created hope that she would possibly run for President in 2020. You can watch below:

Other nominees with ties to the Chicago area who could have had a better night included Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk, who grew up in Naperville; Battle of the Sexes’ Steve Carell, The Shape of Water star Richard Jenkins, who grew up in DeKalb; Dunkirk director Christopher Nolan, who spent part of his childhood in Evanston; The Handmaid’s Tale star Ann Dowd, who attended DePaul University; and Chicago theater veterans Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird) and William H. Macy (Shameless) lost their respective categories.

Despite the popularity of the #TimesUp movement the show experienced a 5% decline from last year’s 20 million viewers, according to Nielsen figures provided by the TV network. Here is a list of all winners:

 
THE WINNERS

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
   Laura Dern, Big Little Lies

 
Contact Colin Costello at colin@reelchicago.com or follow him on Twitter @colincostello10.