SINCE time immemorial—on red carpets anyway—women have always felt that they should only be seen, that their appearance matter more than their opinion. That silence has been broken, loudly, at the 75th Golden Globes Awards on January 7 in Beverly Hills, California, as Hollywood women wore black to show the magnitude of the Me Too movement and Time’s Up initiative to fight sexual misconduct and gender inequality in the workplace.
“For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up. Their time is up,” exhorted Oprah Winfrey, wearing Versace, who delivered a rousing, presidential-level speech after receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, handed to her by Reese Witherspoon (in Zac Posen), one of the leaders of Time’s Up.
“We hope people know that one awards show can’t change everything, but this can be a start and hopefully this will spread to all industries,” Witherspoon told Entertainment Tonight.
Oprah has this unparalleled ability to enthrall even the A-list. Among those cheering her from the audience were Barbra Streisand (the Globe’s only female Best Director winner, most likely in Donna Karan), Viola Davis (in custom Brandon Maxwell), Halle Berry (in Zuhair Murad), Octavia Spencer (Best Supporting Actress nominee for The Shape of Water, in Tadashi Shoji), Ashley Judd (Harvey Weinstein whistle-bower, in Elie Saab) and Jessica Chastain (Molly’s Game, in custom Armani Privé).
Ironically, Oprah is one of only 15 women (and the first African-American female) out of 65 Hollywood luminaries to be given the DeMille award. Another irony: the 2014 recipient was Woody Allen, one film giant accused of child molestation.
As one screen pillar after another comes tumbling down, Hollywood is reviving its Norma Rae and Silkwood heydays. Acclaimed actresses brought as their dates fearless activists, whose annual wages, I think, can’t even buy them a couture dress.
Michelle Williams (Best Actress-Drama for All The Money in the World, in Louis Vuitton) with Tarana Burke, founder of Me Too; Emma Watson (in custom Ronald van der Kemp Sustainable Dress) with Marai Larasi, executive director of Imkaan, a United Kingdom-based black feminist network organization tackling violence against women and girls; Meryl Streep (Best Actress-Drama nominee for The Post, in Vera Wang) brought National Domestic Workers Alliance director Ai-jen Poo; Susan Sarandon (Feud: Bette and Joan, in Saint Laurent) with Rosa Clemente, an organizer, political commentator and independent journalist; Amy Poehler (in Greta Constantine) with Saru Jayaraman, activist, president and cofounder of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United.
Laura Dern (Best Supporting Actress winner for HBO’s Big Little Lies on TV, in Armani Privé) with Monica Ramirez, a farmworker/activist.
Emma Stone (Battle of the Sexes, in custom Louis Vuitton) arrived with sports heroine Billie Jean King, Margot Robbie (I, Tonya, in Gucci), however, invited a sports villain accused of violence, Tonya Harding.
Margaret Gardiner, a long-standing member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the Globes, wore a gown from Filipino Los Angeles-based designer Oliver Tolentino.
She was Miss Universe 1978 and she brought as her date her countrywoman, the reigning Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters (in Theia Couture), whose advocacy, Unbreakable, is about protecting women against violent attacks.
Most of the HFPA’s decisions were popular, but the award for Best Actor Drama given to Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour, in Prada), presented by Geena Davis (in Monique Lhuillier) and Sarandon in a Thelma and Louise reunion; and the Best Actor-Musical/Comedy plum to James Franco (The Disaster Artist, in Salvatorre Ferragamo) are being questioned. Both are accused of violence against women.But Sterling K. Brown’s much-deserved win for Best Actor for the TV drama series This Is Us is historic for a black actor.
Men in black are boring, but women in sartorial solidarity are bodacious: Saoirse Ronan in Versace, Mary J. Blige in custom Alberta Ferretti, Alicia Vikander in Louis Vuitton, Diane Kruger in Prada, Claire Foy in Stella McCartney, Nicole Kidman in Givenchy, Tracee Ellis Ross in Marc Jacobs, Millie Bobby Brown in a custom Calvin Klein by Appointment, Maggie Gyllenhaal in Monse, Greta Gerwig in Oscar de la Renta, Michelle Pfeiffer in Dior, Connie Britton in custom Lingua Franca, Rachel Brosnahan in Vionnet and Madeline Brewer in Diane von Furstenberg.
The feisty Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) won Best Actress for a Motion Picture-Drama, handed to her by Isabelle Huppert (in custom Chloé) and Angelina Jolie (in Atelier Versace). She didn’t wear makeup, and was her nun’s habit of a dress in navy blue?
Even so, the badass said, “So many of you know I keep my politics private. But it was really great to be in this room tonight. To be a part of the tectonic shift in our industry’s power structure. Trust me, the women in this room tonight are not here for the food. We are here for the work.”
Image credits: AP