The Golden Globes have always been the most amusing televised
awards show for me.
Maybe it’s because the Globes are handed out in a dinner
party environment, leading to an increased chance for drunken
acceptance speeches, or maybe it’s that every year some young
girl is selected to be “Ms. Golden Globes” and stand
around onstage, smiling and pretending her nickname does not have a
sophomoric sexual connotation.
Aside from these unique attributes, the most notable aspect of
the Globes is that they, unlike the Oscars, divide films into two
classifications: Dramas or Musicals and Comedies.
If you think about it, this division makes sense. Just look at
the Greek comedy and tragedy masks, universally recognized
representations of the true essence of theater.
But there is something wrong with the way the Globes use the
term “musical.” Take a look at this year’s
nominees for Best Picture ““ Musical or Comedy: “Mrs.
Henderson Presents,” “Pride & Prejudice,”
“The Producers,” “The Squid and the Whale”
and “Walk the Line.” Notice anything strange?
“Walk the Line” is a biopic about Johnny
Cash’s formative years and how he fell in love with his wife.
It details his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction and his
troubled childhood.
Sure, there is music involved ““ Cash performs concerts
““ but at no point does anyone break out in song to advance
the plot. If people who have seen this film consider it a musical,
they need to have their heads examined.
Neither is there a logical reason to call the film a comedy. Of
course there are jokes, but the film is ostensibly a dramatic
romance based on a true story.
This is like classifying “A History of Violence” as
a “comic-book movie” in the same vein as
“Batman” or “Superman,” simply because it
is based on a graphic novel. Or calling “The Aviator”
an adapted screenplay because it was adapted from someone’s
real life.
However, this year’s Golden Globes are not the first
instance of such improper categorization.
Last year the Hollywood Foreign Press (the organization that
puts on the Golden Globes) nominated “Ray,” the biopic
about Ray Charles, for Best Picture, also in the Musical or Comedy
category.
And in 2001 the Golden Globe in the Musical or Comedy category
was given to Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous.” The
film was primarily neither a musical nor a comedy; it just happened
to be about music. That is, unless you count the scene in which all
the characters on the tour bus start singing “Tiny
Dancer” ““ but, come on.
And this isn’t just a recent phenomenon; the Foreign Press
did the same thing in the early ’80s, when the Musical or
Comedy distinction was awarded to “Coal Miner’s
Daughter,” a film about country singer Loretta Lynn.
Such nominations of music-related movies under the Musical
category would be easier to swallow if the Globes were consistent
about them, but of course they aren’t.
In 1996, “Shine,” a film about the troubled life of
pianist David Helfgott, was nominated in the Drama category. Also
nominated as a drama was “Amadeus,” the film about the
famous composer.
This presents a huge contradiction.
What makes “Shine” or “Amadeus” more of
a drama than “Walk the Line” or “Ray?”
Or, by the same token, why does the inclusion of classical music
make the former two less “musical” than the latter
two?
The real answer is that the category enables the Foreign Press
to recognize more films for awards.
The Globes are often specifically criticized for awarding
studios that are amiable to Foreign Press members.
For example, studios usually serve alcohol at screenings for
Foreign Press members, which does not happen when films are
screened for members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences.
On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with recognizing two
different types of movies for their achievements, but to me it
seems like a cop out.
This whole “two winners” mentality totally smacks of
an elementary school kickball game in which the teacher insists
upon every person getting a chance to kick, regardless of the
number of outs.
In any case, it’s great that the Foreign Press chooses to
honor a genre like the musical. But by using the term in such a
way, it instead manages to make a mockery of the genre.
But hey, what do I know? After all, the studios aren’t
exactly rushing to buy me a gin and tonic.
Humphrey takes “Tiny Dancer” very seriously.
E-mail him at mhumphrey@media.ucla.edu.