The 81st Golden Globe Awards took place on Sunday, Jan. 7, and they were filled with plenty of amazing nominations and historic wins, but juvenile jokes and low blows captured attention that should have gone to the nominees.
American comedian Jo Koy was the host of this year’s ceremony. While it’s fairly normal for hosts to take jabs at pop culture moments and celebrities, Koy took the “jokes” too far.
In case you missed it, Koy’s comments ranged from Taylor Swift and the NFL to missing the entire purpose of the “Barbie” movie.
Koy began by making an unnecessary comment about Swift, when the attention should’ve been on the achievements of filmmakers and actors.
“The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL? On the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift,” he said.
Ever since the beginning of her relationship with NFL player Travis Kelce, Swift has gotten unwarranted publicity on the big screen at every game she has attended, resulting in extreme backlash from NFL fans. Koy just furthered this unnecessary commentary with a joke that wasn’t funny.
Koy then continued to add fuel to the fire with his atrocious comment comparing “Oppenhiemer” and “Barbie.”
“Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project, and Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies,” he said. “The key moment in Barbie is when she goes from perfect beauty to bad breath, cellulite and flat feet. Or what casting directors call character actor!”
Disappointed looks from “Barbie” cast members, Greta Gerwig, Meryl Streep and many others swept the room.
The point of “Barbie” was to prove that women are more than their bodies and appearance. The movie reiterates how impossible it is to be a woman living in a world run by men. America Ferrera had a monologue in the movie stating this exactly.
“It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong,” Ferrera said in the film. “You have to answer for men’s bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining … I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don’t even know.”
It’s apparent that Koy didn’t understand the film and that he has difficulty working a crowd. After his comment about “Barbie” failed, Koy started to get defensive, telling the audience to “shut up.”
“Yo, I got the gig 10 days ago, you want a perfect monologue? Yo, shut up. You’re kidding me, right. Slow down. I wrote some of these, and they’re the ones you’re laughing at,” he said.
Sexist jokes and comments should not still be occurring like this in 2024. Regardless of if Koy had ten days or ten weeks to write his monologue, there was plenty of non-offensive material to choose from. As a comedian, I would assume that he wouldn’t have to tear others down in order to create funny material, but I was proven wrong.
Instead of misogyny, the ceremony should have been focused on the achievements of women in 2023. Since Koy took much of that attention away, here’s a run-down of a few historic moments.
Lily Gladstone became the first indigenous woman to be nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. Gladstone was not only nominated but also won the award for her performance in “Killers of the Flower Moon” aside Leonardo DiCaprio.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph won a Golden Globe for her gut-wrenching and beautiful performance in “The Holdovers.” Emma Stone won for “Poor Things,” and Ayo Edebiri won for “The Bear.”
“Barbie” was also given the award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, a huge success for a women-led film.
The Golden Globe jokes and reactions just reiterate that women are more than a body, more than a relationship and more than sexist awards shows. It’s time for men, awards shows and hosts to do better.
