The Golden Globes were a mixed night for people who want a more inclusive Hollywood

By Fusion Staff  |  January 9, 2017 | 3:56pm
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On one level, Sunday’s Golden Globes were a great night for people who want Hollywood to be a more inclusive, representative place. Black actors, actresses, and films all took home major awards. But the show underscored that the entertainment industry is unfortunately still lacking when it comes to truly reflecting the stories of all people.

For instance, Viola Davis won her first Golden Globe for her role in Fences. But, there were literally no other women of color nominated in the film categories for Best Actress in a Drama or Best Supporting Actress, and the Best Actress In A Musical or Comedy category was entirely made up of white women. It’s great that black women are finally getting recognized (seriously, it’s long overdue), but there are also Asian and Latina women that need to be recognized as well.

Then there’s Moonlight. Barry Jenkin’s coming-of-age love letter to the black men who grew up in his Miami neighborhood won Best Motion Picture Drama, the biggest prize of the night. But La La Land, a film that literally whitewashes a genre created by black people, was the night’s biggest victor by far, winning the most Golden Globes of any movie ever.

Moreover, Denzel Washington was not only robbed of an award for Fences, but he also lost to Casey Affleck, a man who has various sexual assault allegations against him, further proving that the agenda of white men will continue to trump the words and truths of women.

And this is all before we get to the continued mix-up of the black-centric films Hidden Figures and Fences.

Television, as always, was a little more diverse. Donald Glover won two awards for his critically acclaimed series Atlanta, which depicts what it’s like to be black with no regard to whiteness. Tracee Ellis Ross also won the award for Best Actress for her role as Rainbow Johnson on Black-ish. Even there, though, her win reflected how far we still have to go: She was the first black woman to win the award in 34 years.

White people also presented a very mixed picture. While Hugh Laurie and Meryl Streep used their platforms to take down president-elect Donald Trump, Tom Hiddleston used his speech to whitesplain to the audience about his charity work in Sudan, which somehow turned into a promotion for The Night Manager.

So, yes—there was much to be celebrated for black people in Hollywood at the Golden Globes. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t much, more work that needs to be done.

Tahirah Hairston is a style writer from Detroit who likes Susan Miller, Rihanna’s friend’s Instagram accounts, ramen and ugly-but cute shoes.

 
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