The 77th Annual Golden Globe nominations were revealed today and many people woke up to happy phone calls and text messages this morning while there were also some notable snubs as well. If you were a female director this year and could’ve had a film in contention, that congratulatory phone call did not come. The press was quick to note that the Hollywood Foreign Press once again made the directing category an all-boys club and considering they haven’t nominated a female director since 2015, the HFPA felt the need to speak on the criticism they continue to receive for the slight.
Here is what Lorenzo Soria, Hollywood Foreign Press Association President, had to say about the criticism in an interview with “Variety:
“What happened is that we don’t vote by gender. We vote by film and accomplishment. Every year somebody gets left out. There’s so much talent going on, maybe we need to expand the categories so more people can be part of it. I also think that if you look at some of the other things…a lot of the big television shows are created by women, I think across the board there is a good representation. Maybe in couple of those categories, we wish it could be a little different. Who knows what will happen next year.”
Let me just say, I don’t think he’s wrong. Film and accomplishment are what should be recognized, not gender. I’m 100% on board with that. If I’m to play devil’s advocate though, I can see where all of the criticism is coming from. As stated before, Ava DuVernay was the last female director to be nominated at the Globes back in 2015 for Selma. It gets even more distressing that in the 77-year history of the show, only five women have been nominated for Best Director and they include the aforementioned DuVernay, Barbara Streisand (for Yentl and The Prince of Tides), Jane Campion (The Piano), Sofia Coppola (Lost In Translation), and Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker & Zero Dark Thirty). I think it’s safe to say we probably had some worthy female directing nominees in 77 years and for only five women to make that count, seems a tad ridiculous.
Many on social media were quick to point out a few female directors that they believed were worthy of nominations this year and they included Alma Har’el for Honey Boy, Lulu Wang for The Farewell, Greta Gerwig for Little Women, Lorene Scafaria for Hustlers, Olivia Wilde for Booksmart, and Marielle Heller for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Were they any less worthy than Bong Joon Ho (Parasite), Sam Mendes (1917), Todd Phillips (Joker), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman) or Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), who all received nominations this morning? That’s going to be a bone of contention that comes down to a matter of opinion. I’ve personally seen three of the films that feature the male director nominees (Hollywood, Parasite & Joker) and I believe they deserve their spots. This is just part of the game, some win, some lose and everyone can’t be noticed but I do think the HFPA should look a little deeper as to why women aren’t acknowledged more in this category because I’m sure more than five women in its 77-year history deserved a seat at that table.
