The Zoom attendees of the 78th annual Golden Globes seem to be asking the same question silently from their hotel rooms: “What are we doing here?” It’s an existential query that has torn through every living room for the past year, and can finally now be encapsulated on the small screen. From an effortful pre-show hosted by Jane Lynch and This Is Us actress Susan Kelechi Watson to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s bicoastal split screen, it’s hard to imagine that the ceremony traditionally considered to be awards season’s most raucous good time has been transformed into three hours of staged small talk and frozen images. Yet, here we are, laughing through the strangest Golden Globes we’re likely to ever see.
It’s an odd event to watch—and, apparently, an even odder one to participate in, as evidenced by the handful of world-famous actors who refused to get commercially glamorous while “attending“ the Globes from the comfort of their own homes. Like those of us refusing to turn on video on during the 1000th work Zoom meeting of the week, plenty of actors are surrendering to the pandemic’s unnerving circumstances.
The premium example so far: Jeff Daniels, nominated for The Comey Rule, broke the Internet Sunday night by appearing resignedly when his category was announced—wearing not a tux but a plaid button-down shirt, and sitting in what seemed to be a suburban home’s storage room flanked by multiple closets. Several categories later, Jason Sudeikis was clearly shocked and confused to have won best actor in a comedy series for his role in Ted Lasso—wearing a tie dye sweatshirt and giving a very earnest and long-winded speech, presumably in honor of his character. (In the Golden Globes press room, Sudeikis said the sweatshirt is in support of his sister’s dance company, and that he has “a multitude of hoodies for a multitude of things I believe in and support. This felt like the best for [this occasion].”) Past Golden Globe winner Jodie Comer couldn’t be bothered to show up to this indulgent Zoom meeting, which is a truly admirable flex during a pandemic year. Lean out, ladies!
It’s clear from Sunday’s show that all of us, even the celebrities, are no longer able to keep up appearances as we pass the one-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s an absurd night; it’s an absurd time. Hell, the highlight of the evening so far has been not an upset win or a particularly stirring speech, but SNL and Kenan‘s Kenan Thompson appearing alongside awards show hero Maya Rudolph while low-key reprising a role from his All That days: fake-French-speaking Pierre Escargot. Why? Well, the celebrities have to help us pass the time, somehow.
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