2021 Golden Globe Nominations: A Mixture of Snubs and Oddities

This year’s Golden Globes feature some bizarre nominations that COULD ONLY HAVE COME OUT OF 2020.

Wednesday morning, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the Golden Globes, revealed their nominations for the Globes’ 78th annual ceremony and, much like the year it represents, there were a lot of surprises in both film and television nods.

Netflix dominated the nomination tally with 42 nominations between their film and television output. By comparison, two years ago when they made their breakthrough into awards season films with “Roma”, they only had 13 nominations. The streaming juggernaut’s own “Mank”, David FIncher’s black and white drama about the making of Citizen Kane, was the most nominated feature, earning six nods including Best Picture-Drama, Best Director, Best Actor for Gary Oldman and Best Supporting Actress for Amanda Seyfried. Netflix also came second with Aaron Sorkin’s timely drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7” earning 5 nods including Picture-Drama, Director and Supporting Actor for Sacha Baron Cohen. Cohen also joined a rare group of actors to receive two nominations at the same Globes, getting a nod in Best Actor-Musical/Comedy for “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”.

Rounding out the Best Picture-Drama nominations are “The Father”, critics frontrunner “Nomadland”, and “Promising Young Woman”, each of which has 4 nominations overall. In the Musical/Comedy category, the Best Picture noms include “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”, “Hamilton”, “Palm Springs”, “The Prom”, and perhaps the most shocking nomination of the day, “Music”.

Like every year, there are many surprises and snubs that will make jaws drop from film buffs and journalists alike. The aforementioned “Music”, the directorial debut of Australian musician Sia, has earned generally negative reviews and controversy over its portrayal of autism, which may make its inclusion odd to some compared to more acclaimed films like “On the Rocks” and “The Personal History of David Copperfield”. Although this year saw some progress in the diversity of nominations, including three female nominees in Best Director, films with African American casts found themselves lacking in the top category as “Judas and the Black Messiah”, “One Night In Miami”, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, and “Da 5 Bloods” all missed the Best Picture categories. “Da 5 Bloods” was completely shut out, most shockingly snubbing Delroy Lindo’s acclaimed performance. And then there are random nominations like Jared Leto’s Supporting Actor nod for “The Little Things”.

Over on the television side, Netflix’s “The Crown” earned the most nods with 6 overall. The streaming giant also saw strong showings for “Ozark”, “Ratched”, “The Queen’s Gambit”, and “Emily In Paris”. Canadian sitcom “Schitt’s Creek” dominated the comedy category in its swan song season with 5 nominations. Other programs with multiple nods included HBO’s “The Undoing” and “The Flight Attendant”, Hulu’s “The Great”, and Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso”.

In addition to the regular awards, the HFPA will award their Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award to Jane Fonda while the television equivalent, the Carol Burnett Award, will be given to Norman Lear.

Obviously, there is a lot to digest here with the nominations. 2020 was a year unlike any other and this crop really reflects that, as the major studios hold back on their top contenders for next year’s awards season, allowing smaller projects a chance to shine. And, while we are making progress in the diversity of awards nominations, both in gender and in race, we can still do better. Regardless, it will be fascinating to see how the race shapes up when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host the virtual Golden Globes Awards on Sunday, February 28th on NBC.

For the full list of nominations, see https://www.goldenglobes.com/winners-nominees.

What are your thoughts on the nominations? Who or what do you want to see win? Who should have been nominated but wasn’t? Share your thoughts in the comments below.