The recent 81st Golden Globes award ceremony saw Oppenheimer and Succession dominate, and some distasteful jokes from this year’s host, comedian Jo Koy.
During his presenting gig, when talking about last year’s most successful blockbusters, he said: “Oppenheimer and Barbie are competing for cinematic box office achievements… Oppenheimer is based on a 721 page Pulitzer Prize winning book about the Manhattan Project… and Barbie is based on a plastic doll with big boobies,” essentially reducing the point of the film to Barbie’s traditional physical appearance, which is saddeningly ironic considering the film started so many conversations about the objectification of women.
Despite the joke being met with laughter from the celebrity audience, the camera caught glimpses of the Barbie cast, such as Greta Gerwig, Ryan Gosling, Helen Mirren and Issa Rae, who all looked disappointed in the comment to say the least.
Selena Gomez was seen head in hands, and other stars such as Emma Stone, Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt also had similar disappointed expressions. The badly-received jokes made a reportedly very awkward atmosphere at the ceremony.
Throughout the night, Jo Koy pointed out several times that he only got the job ten days prior to the awards show, which he later used to excuse some of his poorly-landed jokes.
When later asked about the gig by GMA3 he said: “I had fun. You know, it was a moment that I’ll always remember. It’s a tough room. It was a hard job, I’m not going to lie… I had an off night…I’d be lying if [I said] it doesn’t hurt… Hosting is a tough gig. Yes, I’m a stand-up comic but that hosting position it’s a different style.”
Regardless of his reflection of the jokes, many people online have pointed out that he only further proved the relevance of the film, that despite cinema being dominated this year about conversation around Barbie, he undermined the film completely, in what was labelled ‘a horrid, soporific mishmash of lazy jokes’ by Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson.
Barbie still stands a history-making film, with Greta Gerwig achieving the biggest debut for a film directed by a woman. The film was inescapable in the media around its release in the summer, with Margot Robbie’s incredible acting, Ryan Gosling’s comedic performance as Ken, Billie Eilish’s hard-hitting single and America Ferrera’s powerful monologue.
Edited by:
Anna Duffell