The 79th Golden Globe Awards occurred on January 9th, 2022. It honored the best film and American television of 2021, chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The nominees were announced on December 13th, 2021, by rapper Snoop Dogg and HFPA president Helen Hoehne. The ceremony was neither filmed nor televised, there was no red carpet, and only a few HFPA members attended. An article by the New York Times stated that the Golden Globes this year was an “audience-less, glorified PowerPoint presentation.” This decision was made due to the Omicron variant surge. Many actors and directors learned of their wins through phone calls from an agent or a loved one- a very unusual way of learning you have won a prestigious award.

The Power Of The Dog was tied with Belfast as the most-nominated movie; each film earned seven nominations. Succession was nominated for five awards, making it the highest nominated television show of the evening. Other fan favorites that were nominated included Ted Lasso, Squid Game, WandaVision, Tick Tick… Boom, and Encanto. Actors nominated included Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick … Boom!), Jessica Chastain (Scenes From a Marriage), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog), Cynthia Erivo (Genius: Aretha), Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Elizabeth Olsen (WandaVision), Rachel Zegler (West Side Story), Emma Stone (Cruella), and Jennifer Lawrence (Don’t Look Up). However, there were many films and shows that were fan favorites that were not nominated. These include What We Do in the Shadows, Dickinson, and In The Heights- though Anthony Ramos was nominated for his lead role in the film. Isabella Nazario (12) says, “I wish Bo Burnham: Inside or Dickinson were nominated because they were both amazing.”
The Power of the Dog, West Side Story, and Succession each won 3 Golden Globes, making them the biggest winners of the evening. Andrew Garfield won for his role as Jonathan Larson in Tick, Tick… Boom and Rachel Zegler and Ariana Debose won for their roles as Maria and Anita in West Side Story, three big wins for musical fans. Will Smith won his first Golden Globe for his role as Richard Williams in King Richard. The TV show Hacks won two Golden Globes- one for best musical or comedy TV series and best actress in a musical or comedy TV series for Jean Smart. Disney’s new film Encanto won for the best-animated picture.
This year’s awards’ private, unfilmed, and untelevised style is uncommon for award shows. Though it can be partially attributed to the Omicron variant surge in January, the controversy surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The HFPA has been accused of its members of accepting bribes in exchange for votes by studios, as well as diversity and transparency issues within the HFPA, with many people calling them out for the lack of POC HFPA members. The 2021 Golden Globes ceremony also faced backlash for its lack of diversity within the nominees. However, the HFPA maintained that the reason for the lack of ceremony was solely due to health and safety for the acting community. When asked whether they think more award shows should move towards this untelevised style, Shreya Sudakar (12) says, “No because awards ceremonies like these should have more exposure to the general public; without streaming or filming it, we don’t have much access to it.” This seems to be the general feeling from fans; most wish they could’ve watched to support their favorite actors, films, and shows. While some award shows have been announced for this year, not much has been said about whether they will be in-person events, just streamed events, or not filmed at all.