The nominations for the 2021 Golden Globes are here and there were a heap of snubs and unexpectedly bad picks as per the usual.
Has there ever been a year where the biggest awards shows don’t end up making people mad over snubbing several worthy nominees in favour of giving the spotlight to far less deserving artists?
It’s a rhetorical question but one worth thinking about because the nominations for the 2021 Golden Globes nominations are here and boy do the snubs outweigh the surprises.
Granted that we all know awards shows are more or less meaningless and are more about who you know rather than the quality of the work being honoured (as was the case this year), but it doesn’t make this year’s Golden Globe nominations any less maddening.
Seriously, how on earth did a terrible show like Emily In Paris get all those nominations while a brilliant masterpiece like I May Destroy You got no love at all?
Okay, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. There were a few bright spots, like Mank getting a lot of love and female directors took centre stage in the Best Director (drama) category as Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), Regina King (One Night In Miami), and Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) all scored nominations.
But the point is that there were a lot of noteworthy snubs than bright spots in this year’s Golden Globes nominations list so let’s go through the absolute worst offenders.
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I May Destroy You gets nothing and neither do several Black-led shows and movies
Look, I May Destroy You getting snubbed while Emily In Paris gets showed in undeserved glory is probably the worst offender (to me anyway), but seeing the lack of recognition for quality work from Black casts and creators was just as disappointing.
Jurnee Smollett and the rest of her castmates’ work on the fantastic Lovecraft Country was ignored, as was Issa Rae’s work on Insecure. Hell, every female acting category in the TV world is dominated by white women this year.
But that’s just an appetiser to the slew of Black-led movies that were completely shut out.
Brilliant films like Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Judas and the Black Messiah, One Night in Miami, and Da Five Bloods were nowhere to be found in the Best Picture categories and only made a small dent in the individual categories.
So all this talent and great work gets ignored while James Corden gets a nod for playing an offensive gay stereotype in the god awful The Prom and managed to get it over Meryl Streep of all people. Okay then. I may just destroy something.
Where were comedies like What We Do In The Shadows and BoJack Horseman?
What We Do In The Shadows may be one of the funniest shows on right now yet it – and its leading man Matt Berry – got no love whatsoever. Neither did
And then there’s BoJack Horseman, which ended its acclaimed run last year and established itself as one of the greatest animated comedy series ever made. Yet despite all that, it still could get a single bloody nomination in its six years of existence.
What the hell?
Steven Yeun and Minari got shut out
This isn’t too big of a surprise as Minari got snubbed as it was primarily in a language that’s not English and the Golden Globes usually shuffle those films to the Best Foreign Film category (which Minari got at least).
But the fact that the film and its cast – especially Steven Yeun who put in a career best performance – got snubbed out of every other category was just too painful to ignore.
Just a bunch of weird choices in the TV arena and Music somehow getting attention
I’ve gone on enough about Emily In Paris and I May Destroy You but that’s far from the only offender in the TV space.
Somehow Ratched got a Best TV Series – Drama nomination despite being, well, boring as hell while the likes of the supremely entertaining (and horny) Bridgerton and Dead Like Me were completely ignored.
Hell, even the always reliable Hugh Jackman and his performance in HBO’s Bad Education got looked over.
Speaking of getting ignored, there was no love either for The Boys or any of its cast, which is a damn shame because it is a subversive show that is mega popular and that should’ve played well to Golden Globe voters. Guess they just don’t like superhero stuff.
Oh and Sia’s film Music somehow scored a Best Motion Picture – Musical Or Comedy and a Best Actress nomination despite hardly anyone seeing it. Can’t explain that one.
