2024 Golden Globes Ceremony Yields Milestones Amidst Media Buzz

The 2024 Golden Globes Awards and its winners re-emphasized the importance of diversity in Hollywood’s industries.

Despite the negative press surrounding host Jo Koy’s opening monologue, the milestones achieved at 2024’s Golden Globes Awards are not lost amongst viewers and film fanatics. 

The 81st Golden Globes Awards, which took place at The Beverly Hilton on Jan. 7, celebrated a variety of accomplishments spanning across artistic disciplines: television, film, & music. Differing from previous years, 2024’s ceremony yielded a more diverse catalog of winners. 

For her role in “Killers of the Flower Moon”, Blackfeet descendant Lily Gladstone was awarded “Best Actress in a Drama Motion Picture.” With this win, Gladstone became the first indigenous person to receive a Golden Globe. Following a personal introduction to the audience in the Blackfeet language, Gladstone expressed the impact of this milestone throughout her acceptance speech. 

“This is for every little kid on a reservation, every little urban kid, and every little Native kid who has a dream, who is seeing themselves represented and our stories told by ourselves, in our own words,” Gladstone said. 

Ayo Edebiri (FX’s “The Bear”) & Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”) each took home wins for their respective roles. Both women of color, Edebiri & Randolph embraced the gravity of their accomplishments in their speeches. 

“The beauty is that all the time I poured into my crafts, and all the sleepless nights I had to think about how I contribute to this industry as a woman of color has been worth it,” Randolph said of her accomplishments. 

Adding to the roster of milestones was 82-year-old Hayao Miyazaki, director of the beloved Studio Ghibli animated film franchise. Miyazaki took home the “Best Animated Feature” award for his final production, “The Boy and the Heron”. Miyazaki notably came out of retirement to make the film, spending 7 years on its production. The film not only rewarded Miyazaki with his first and only Golden Globe, but it also broke records as the first original anime film to break the top of the North American box office. 

Joining Miyazaki in receiving his first Golden Globe was Kieran Culkin, who won “Best Actor in a TV Drama.” In his speech, Culkin spoke of his journey. “I was nominated for a Golden Globe like 20 years ago, and when that moment passed, I still remember thinking, I’m never going to be back in this room again…But thanks to “Succession”, I’ve been in here a couple of times,” Culkin said. 

The masses seem to agree that 2023 was a successful year for the arts, with films such as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” breaking box office records. However, the 2024 Golden Globes Awards and its winners re-emphasized the importance of diversity in Hollywood’s industries, refusing to get lost amidst the never-ceasing frenzy of pop culture.