AAPI watchers of the entertainment industry were up in arms early this morning when the Golden Globes announced its nominations for the awards because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association passed over Asian American film 'Minari in the acting, directing and writing categories.
There was already a controversy when the film, which walked away with a best picture in the Sundance Film Festival, about an Korean American immigrant family was classified as a Foreign Language film. Since the movie is predominantly in Korean, the language spoken at home of first-generation immigrants from Korea, HFPA rules made it ineligible for Best Picture.
When HPFA announced their decision about Minari last December, writer Lulu Wang tweeted her disappointment about the news that the film would be excluded from the Best Picture category. “I have not seen a more American film than #Minari this year,” Wang wrote. “It's a story about an immigrant family, IN America, pursuing the American dream. We really need to change these antiquated rules that characterize American as only English-speaking.”
Adding insult to injury, when Minari's lead actor, Steven Yeun (Walking Dead) and presumed frontrunner Youn Yuh-Jung were passed over for best actor and best supporting actress, respectively, the criticism exploded on social media.
Minari director Lee Isaac Chung, who also wrote the screenplay partially based on his real-life experiences, also missed out when he wasn't among the nominees for best director, either.
Some of the sting of having Chung overlooked was eased by Chloe Zhao's nomination in the Best Director's category. She is the first woman of Asian descent to be included in that classification. She was nominated for her work for Nomadland, a moody piece of contemporary Americana starring Frances McDormand, who was also nominated for Best Actress in a Drama.
Nomadland is in the running for Best Motion Picture Drama. Zhao also nabbed a nomination for her screenplay.
The Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama includes Riz Ahmed for his performance in The Sound of Metal, in which he plays a metal band drummer who is losing his hearing.
(For the curious, Tahar Rahim who received a Best Actor nomination for The Mauritanian, although Muslim, is from Algeria and so we could not list him as an Asian.)
Joining Ahmed is Dev Patel, who in a case of color-blind casting, was nominated in the category of Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, for playing the lead role in The Personal History of David Copperfield.
Filipino American H.E.R. (Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson) was nominated in the Best Song category for "Fight For You" (cowritten by Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II and Tiara Thomas) for Judas and the Black Messiah, the story of Black Panther Fred Hampton who was killed in the infamous shootout with Chicago police.
Over the Moon, the animated feature of an Asian American girl and her friends seeking the moon goddess, based on a Chinese fable, was nominated for Best Animated Movie. It featured AAPI actors giving voice to the characters.
The HFPA, made up of about 90 members who are based in Southern California and write for a wide-ranging list of foreign media, are the voters of the Golden Globes. The group are not exclusively movie critics but also include feature writers or gossip writers, have been criticized for their subjectivity and for their susceptibility to celebrity glamor and influence. In other words, if an actor or studio caters to the HFPA, he or she would likely be better received by the HFPA than someone who doesn't cater to them.
It's no small comfort to know that a lot of really outstanding products got overlooked by the Golden Globes, and perhaps its just coincidence that the majority of the snubs were films that featured POC. I mean, Emily in Paris? Really? Certainly Netflix's Da Five Bloods, HBO's groundbreaking Insecure, the actors of Lovecraft Country and PEN15, the Good Place deserved some mention.
The 78th Golden Globe Awards will take place 8 p.m. ET, on Feb. 28 on NBC. Comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will split co-hosting duties for the ceremony, (or should I say "ceremonies?) being held simultaneously in New York City and Los Angeles.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is my opinion. Readers are urged to read several sources to form your own opinion.
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