The Golden Globes are making headlines again – impressive, giving that the awards have so few members voting for them.
The entertainment world headlines this morning are primarily surrounding the Golden Globes, that took place in Hollywood overnight. The awards are the curtain raiser for the main movie awards season of the year, and the usual line that’s spun is that they’re the indicator of which way the Oscars will go. They’re not, but let’s not get bogged down in details.
What’s perhaps overlooked in the sizeable headlines, though, is just how few people are involved in the voting.
The Golden Globes are voted for by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group that admits just five new members each year. Furthermore, it has – according to its own website – “about 90 members” in total. As such, the Globes are voted for by fewer than 100 people each year, all international journalists based in the Southern California area.
To put that in context, the Oscar vote reflects the views of over 8000 members, and BAFTA added 559 new members in 2019 alone.
Whilst, thus, not wishing to diminish the achievements of those that the Golden Globes rewarded overnight – and there were some terrific people, films and TV shows that earned gongs – the prizes reflect a very narrow view. The greatest trick the Golden Globes pull, I’d argue, is making so much noise as a result of the votes of so few people.
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