Entertainment

The Golden Globes were mostly remote, and yeah, it was kind of a mess

Celebrities, they're just like us — also struggling with Zoom calls.

Hosts Tina Fey in New York and Amy Poehler in Beverly Hills pull off a split screen gag at the Golden Globe Awards. NBC via AP

By Mark Gartsbeyn

4 minutes to read

Related Links

More like Golden Glitches.

Like everything else, the Golden Globes had to reimagine its proceedings Sunday because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s certainly no room for ballrooms and red carpets stuffed with celebrity actors, industry hotshots, and ravenous fashion photographers when an airborne virus is milling about. And like everything else — college classes, doctor appointments, first dates, improv shows — the resulting “coronavirus compromise” came out more than a little awkward. And we’re not even talking about the stilted attempts at sketches.

At least hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, live on opposite coasts, poked fun at the circumstances early with a split-screen gag during their opening monologue.

Advertisement:

“The technology is so great, you’re never going to be able to tell the difference,” Poehler joked. “It’s going to be smooth sailing.”

If only. From there, the energy of the show immediately devolved from “tech-savvy TikTok teen” to “grandparent trying their hardest to figure out FaceTime.”

The first award of the night — best supporting actor in a film — went to Daniel Kaluuya for his portrayal of Black Panther revolutionary Fred Hampton in “Judas and the Black Messiah.” It was a big win, but at the start of his acceptance speech, the “Get Out” actor faced an obstacle familiar to anyone who’s ever participated in a Zoom call. He was accidentally on mute.

Advertisement:

The moment went on for an excruciating 15 seconds, Kaluuya apparently none the wiser as he spoke, chewing gum and beaming. An unknown male voice, perhaps a technical producer, says “I wish I could hear.” Cut back to a flustered Laura Dern on a silent stage, playing digital damage control before walking off.

But Kaluuya managed to interject and recover just in time: “You doing me dirty! Am I on? Is this on? Alright, cool. Can you hear me now?” he said to applause before restarting his speech.

It’s not clear who was responsible for the technical fiasco, but given the overwhelming criticism the Golden Globes has faced recently over racial inequity in its voting body and nominations, it was hard to ignore the literal silencing of a Black man, even if it was accidental.

Not long after, Catherine O’Hara accepted the award for best television actress in a comedy for her role in “Schitt’s Creek,” which itself won best TV comedy later in the night. Her speech kicked off with a grating background hiss, which might have seemed like another malfunction at first, but was actually her husband Bo Welch playing a clip of applause on his phone — he’d later “play her off” with a “please wrap up and leave the stage” tune.

Advertisement:

The attempt at emulating the Awards Show Experience could have been more amusing if the broadcast hadn’t already primed the audience to expect hiccups … though anyone who’s tried to record a tinny phone speaker could have predicted the results.

When Pixar’s “Soul” won best animated picture, co-director Pete Docter and producer Dana Murray introduced another inelegant integration of technology into acceptance speeches. The two couldn’t be joined by Kemp Powers, Pixar’s first Black co-director, so they settled on the next best thing: A pre-recorded video on an iPad thrust toward the camera.

Of course, Docter and Murray had the right intentions — it’s important to present relevant Black voices, especially regarding Black-centric films like “Soul,” and especially amid the collar-tugging atmosphere the Hollywood Foreign Press Association set up for itself. But it served as yet another reminder that the socially distant arrangement wasn’t ideal.

But that wasn’t even the end of the “Soul”ful shenanigans. Tracy Morgan called the movie “Sal” when announcing it as the winner of best original score. He got cut off by pre-recorded speeches by Jon Batiste and Trent Reznor before he could properly correct himself.

To give Morgan credit, it was a chuckle-worthy moment, and live flubs are more whimsical and less irritating than technical mishaps. (But “Sal” could never reach the heroic heights of the wickedly talented Adele Dazeem.)

Advertisement:

The award led into one of the show’s many commercial break lead-ins, wherein nominees of a particular category, possibly unaware they were being broadcast, were shown in what can only be described as Zoom breakout rooms for A-listers.

Some were charming: The one following “Sal” showed Jason Sudeikis chuckling at the mistake, and another involved Olivia Colman and Sarah Paulson begging Emma Corrin to get her cat on camera. But others were awkwardly cut off or just overly stiff, like Bob Odenkirk trying to keep the room of best TV actor nominees alive: “Hi, Mr. Pacino, very good to meet you … on the … screen …”

https://twitter.com/justanothertown/status/1366207167368364033

Finally, the mostly virtual show inspired several of the featured men to make notably informal fashion choices. Sudeikis accepted his award — best actor in a television comedy for the title role in “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV+ — in a tie-dye hoodie, a daring look that was later matched by presenter Joaquin Phoenix.

A couple elder statesmen of Hollywood also got in on Casual Sunday: Bill Murray hung about with a martini and a Hawaiian shirt, and the flannel-clad Jeff Daniels absolutely nailed the “social studies Zoom class” vibe. (Twitter loved the energy, but whether a dressed down woman would receive similar adoration instead of scrutiny is up for debate.)

At the end of the day, who among us hasn’t secretly worn pajama pants to a virtual meeting or interview? In 2021, without much choice in the matter, the expected extravagance of the Golden Globes deflated into a simulacrum of pageantry. In such bizarre and absurd circumstances, the celebs can skip the suits if they want. Who can blame them?

Advertisement:

Get Boston.com's browser alerts:

Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser.

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com