By: Ada Muqqadus — Correspondent

The 78th Golden Globes, which honor the best in American film and television, 

kicked off on a Sunday night after being delayed for nearly two months due to the pandemic.

This year’s Golden Globes took place in a virtual show for the first time in history. Sunday’s 78th Golden Globe Awards, the HFPA’s first-ever bicoastal and virtual show, was hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

The leading nominations for this year’s Golden Globes were Borat, Nomadland, The United States v. Billie Holiday, along with Mank, The Queen’s Gambit, Soul, Schitt’s Creek and The Crown. 

The biggest winners were Nomadland and Borat’s Subsequent Movie Film. Nomadland won for best drama category and Borat won for the best comedy or musical division.

 Netflix led the pack with a whopping 42 nominations. Mank, the streaming service’s film about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, received the most nominations of any film this year with six, although it failed to win any of those awards. Netflix’s The Crown also garnered six nominations, the most for any television series this year as well. 

The historical drama also took awards for best drama, best actor/actress, and supporting actress. 

Maane Khatchatourian, a former journalist of Columbia University says, “In a historic night, Nomadland scored best motion picture drama, making history for its director and producer Chloe Zhao. She became only the second woman and first woman of color to win best director. Other big winners include Andra Day for actress in a movie drama for The United States v Billie Holiday and Chadwick Boseman for actor in the same category for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Schitt’s Creek was named best TV comedy and gave star Catherine O’Hara her victory as well. 

Women were wearing black at the golden globes to protest sexual harassment and raise awareness for fighting sexual misconduct. By wearing black, they depict the unforgiving power of darkness and despair and convey authority when used in hostility. 

Meryl Streep, an American actress, says people are aware of a power that can be so strong, it leads to hurting someone. “I think people are aware now of a power imbalance and it’s something that leads to abuse, it has led to abuse in our own industry. We want to fix that and we feel emboldened in a thick black line dividing then from now,” said Streep.

Unlike most Golden Globes, this year’s ceremony had no “in memoriam.” Cody Shultz, a CIA officer says, “In the years 2020 and 2021 Golden Globes ceremonies, we’ve lost several stars who have shaped the worlds of television and movies in unimaginable ways. Stars such as Kelly Preston, Olivia de Havilland, Christopher Plummer, Sean Connery, and Chadwick Boseman are just a few of the many stars we’ve lost in the year since the 2020 Golden Globes.” 

The reason there was no “in memoriam” segment at this year’s golden globes was because given the number of beloved stars we’ve lost, the lack of having a tribute was absolutely upsetting. The “in memoriam” segment is generally a very important part of very prestigious award shows, but instead, the Hollywood Foreign Press honors the late members of the community. 

“Despite nominations for black actors and filmmakers being sparse, winners were not in short supply. John Boyega, Daniel Kaluuya, Andra Day and the late Chadwick Boseman were all honored for their work during Sunday’s ceremony,” Beck added.

Also, Chloe Zao became the second woman to only win an award for best director Jane Fonda earned the Cecil B. DeMille award along with Norman Lear becoming the third recipient of the Carol Burnett Award.

Anya Taylor Joy from The Queen’s Gambit was the second-youngest person at this year’s Golden Globes to win an award for best actress. 
Isabelle Truman, senior digital fashion and feature designer says, “Though Anya Taylor-Joy already had a slew of successful projects under her belt before she was cast as the lead in Netflix original The Queen’s Gambit, the 24-year-old has the show-and her performance in it-to thank for becoming the second youngest person ever to win a Golden Globe in the TV best actress category.” (Angelina Jolie is the first, winning a golden globe aged 23 for her 1999 performance in Gia.)