Golden Globes Stars Avoided Politics
Hollywood hoisted a white flag in the culture war on Sunday.
That summation of the 82nd Golden Globe Awards will undoubtedly aggravate some people in the movie capital. Us? Conceding the moral high ground to President-elect Donald J. Trump and his supporters? Never.
They could point — fairly — to the movies that won prizes on Sunday. “Emilia Perez,” honored with four Globes, is a Spanish-language musical about trans identity. “The Brutalist,” which received three, is an epic about immigrant struggles. “Conclave,” the winner of best screenplay, is about the selection of a Mexican, intersex pope. “Wicked,” which was given a newish award for best blockbuster, is about prejudices and the corruption of power.
But the Globes have never been about subtlety. The Globes are where stars supposedly let it rip, where they proselytize for progressive causes and concerns. Sunday’s show was Hollywood’s first megaphone since Mr. Trump was comfortably elected to a second term. And this time, there was barely a peep about it.
In 2017, Meryl Streep tore into Mr. Trump from the Globes stage, firmly throwing down the gauntlet for a new kind of culture war. The next year, the Globes became a de facto rally for the Time’s Up movement, with dozens of actresses wearing black to protest sexual harassment and Oprah Winfrey delivering a barnburner of a speech. In 2020, Michelle Williams gave an impassioned plea for abortion rights, while Russell Crowe called attention to climate change and a bush fire crisis in Australia.
Black Lives Matter, the global refugee crisis and veganism have all been touted from the Globes stage. In 2023, the Globes gave airtime to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who gave a speech condemning Russia.
During the official red carpet preshow, hosts kept the conversation bordering on cotton candy: you’re beautiful, I’m beautiful, the weather is beautiful, everything is beautiful. “It’s Sunday afternoon, and the sun is out,” Felicity Jones told an interviewer. “There’s not a lot to complain about.”
During her monologue that opened the show, the comedian Nikki Glaser gently teased the assembled celebrities for not being able to stop Mr. Trump from returning to office. “It’s OK,” she said. “You’ll get ’em next time — if there is one.” She smiled and added, “I’m scared,” before changing the subject to Ben Affleck’s sex life.
The only other political commentary of note came three hours later, when “Emilia Pérez” won the Globe for best musical or comedy. The film’s star, Karla Sofía Gascón, used the moment to speak for trans rights. “You can beat us up,” she said. “But you never can take away our soul.”
“Raise your voice,” she added.
Maybe the lack of politics in Sunday’s show shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Many of those who oppose Mr. Trump still seem to be sorting out how to push back against him and his administration. And there has even been a gentle drift to the right by Hollywood, to scrub some of the most progressive edges off some shows and select more movies that speak to Mr. Trump’s base.
Ahead of the Globes, some publicists and agents advised clients to keep quiet about Mr. Trump and pointed to Rachel Zegler as a cautionary example. After the election in November, Ms. Zegler, the young star of Disney’s coming live-action “Snow White,” harshly decried Mr. Trump and his supporters in a social media post. The MAGA blowback was severe, and Ms. Zegler was forced to apologize.
And for the people behind the Globes, the silence was probably welcome. Producers who specialize in awards telecasts say research, compiled mainly from Nielsen, indicates that viewers dislike it when celebrities turn a trip to the stage into a political bully pulpit. Minute-by-minute viewership analysis indicates that “vast swaths” of people turn off televisions when celebrities started to opine on politics.
It recalled a time, decades ago, when stars worked at being stars, turning on the charm and saying nothing that might alienate a single ticket buyer. The message came through loud and clear.