The problem with “wokeness” is that one can never be woke enough. Just look at Hollywood.
Earlier this month, several major entertainment companies, including Amazon, Netflix, and WarnerMedia, came out against the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization of 87 foreign journalists that runs the Golden Globes awards show. A few stars announced they would boycott the HFPA as well, including actress Scarlett Johansson and actor Mark Ruffalo. Actor Tom Cruise even mailed his three Golden Globe trophies back to the board.
Their complaint is with the HFPA’s structure. The board is too small for how much influence it holds, which has led to corruption and sexism, Johansson said. And worst of all, the HFPA is not representative of the culture: There are no black members on its board.
At first, the HFPA dismissed this criticism as unfair. After all, 35% of the board members are non-European, and a majority of the group is female, the organization explained. But the criticism continued to mount, and the result was a promise to change. The HFPA agreed to add 13 black members to its board, hold trainings on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and promote a host of social justice initiatives.
“We understand that the hard work starts now, and we remain dedicated to becoming a better organization and an example of diversity, transparency, and accountability in this industry,” the group said in a statement.
But it was too late. Hollywood had already decided the HFPA was not sufficiently woke, which meant that it had to go. And so did the Golden Globes.
Despite the HFPA’s commitment to internal reform, NBC announced this week that it would not air next year’s Golden Globes, citing concerns about the HFPA’s lack of diversity.
“We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform,” NBC said in a statement. “However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.”
A skeptic might look at NBC’s statement and think that the company is just using the latest controversy as an excuse to dump the show, which has been bringing in record-low ratings for the past few years. This year’s Golden Globes, for example, pulled only 6.9 million viewers, down from 18.3 million in 2020. And that’s the real problem. Being insufficiently woke is bad, yes — but that’s something Hollywood can fix with a little bit of grandstanding. Unpopularity, however — that’s a lost cause.
