The Golden Globes kicked off the 2019 awards season last night with what’s become a predictably unpredictable awards show - but some things stood out. Hosts Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg opened the show with an anti-roast routine that fiercely honored the nominees and their work, Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book shocked critics by taking home the two Best Picture awards, and we got to hear Lady Gaga’s “100 people in a room” story not once, but twice more - and not even from Gaga herself.
The evening was punctuated by moments of gravity as well as humor as the ceremony oversaw some of the biggest representational victories of previous years and as the traditionally looser (a.k.a. drunker) audience enjoyed a less stuffy atmosphere than is usually present at the Oscars or the various Guild awards still to come. We’ve gathered a few of the most memorable moments from this year’s telecast and listed them below for your enjoyment.
E! HILARIOUSLY MISIDENTIFIES JAMEELA JAMIL
E! News’ red carpet coverage introduced The Good Place star Jameela Jamil purposefully misidentified the actress as “Kamilah Al-Jamil,” her character Tahani’s sister on the NBC sitcom. If you haven’t watched the show, Tahani is condemned to the Bad Place after a life of good deeds performed for the sole purpose of besting her similarly high-achieving sister. She’s forever in Kamilah’s shadow, and that universal constant would now appear to have bled into real life as even Tahani’s portrayer came in second to a fictional G.O.A.T.
EMMA STONE SAYS SHE’S SORRY FOR ALOHA
During Oh’s opening remarks at the top of the show, she and Samberg introduced several Best Picture nominees including summer blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians. Oh quipped the film “is the first studio film with an Asian-American lead since Ghost in the Shell and Aloha,” at which point Stone could be heard shouting, “I’m sorry!” The Favourite star along with Aloha director Cameron Crowe faced backlash in 2015 after the Caucasian Stone was cast as a character of Asian descent. That film, along with Ghost in the Shell, became emblematic of Hollywood’s propensity to whitewash Asian characters and Stone’s shout-out was a welcome example of self-awareness surrounding the issue that’s been historically lacking in other actors and directors.
SPIDER-VERSE WINS BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The fact that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has won nearly universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike didn’t detract from its historic win last night. The competition was stiff to say the least in the category that also included powerhouse hits like Ralph Breaks the Internet, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, and Mirai. But it was Miles Morales’ heartwarming coming-of-age story showcasing the timely moral that anyone can wear the mask won it Best Animated Feature. It’s the third time that a non-Disney movie has ever won in that category, and the fact that it went up against two Disney movies makes the win all the more exciting.
NO ONE KNOWING CHRISTIAN BALE IS BRITISH
PSA: Christian Bale is British. He was born in Wales and spent his childhood in Surrey and Dorset (those are in England). Some of his key breakout roles were British characters including Jim Graham in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun and Jim Hawkins in a 1990 adaptation of Treasure Island. He has spoken in public and in interviews many, many times using his native accent. Still, Bale’s heritage remained a mystery to much of the internet and presumably many of his fans until he gave an acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for Vice. Maybe it’s an age thing, maybe it’s that it’s been a minute since Bale’s rant on the set of Terminator was played ad nauseam for months, or maybe people were just thrown off their game by his Satanic shout-out. Whatever the reason for the internet’s shock, Bale should clearly get a lifetime achievement award for snowing so many people.
SANDRA OH HONORS HER PARENTS IN KOREAN
Sandra Oh hit several historic milestones before the last night’s ceremony was through: she became the first person of Asian descent to host the Globes, the first to win Best Actress in a Television Drama and the first to win multiple Globes over the course of her career (she won in 2006 for Grey’s Anatomy). During her Best Actress acceptance speech, she gleefully thanked Killing Eve producer and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge, her team and finally her parents, who were in the audience. She tearfully addressed them in Korean and bowed to finish the speech. It was a moment reminiscent of her emotional acknowledgement of the diversity of this year’s ceremony during her and Samberg’s emotional opening remarks at the top of the show.
