Natalie Portman just called out the Golden Globes for its all-male directing category
Between Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), Dee Rees (Mudbound), and others, female directors brought us some of the best films of the year. And yet none of them were nominated for directing at the 2018 Golden Globes. That unfortunate fact wasn’t lost on Natalie Portman, who called attention to the major snub on live TV.
Following Oprah Winfrey’s feminist as hell speech while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award, Ron Howard and Natalie Portman took to the Golden Globes stage to present the award for Best Director: Motion Picture. Howard announced what they were presenting, and Portman followed with…
“And here are the all-male nominees.”
ALL-MALE NOMINEES, PEOPLE. While Portman’s comment was brief and mentioned in passing — like, it would be easy for someone to miss it altogether — her words were HEARD. It was heard by us, who want to see Gerwig, Jenkins, Rees, and their female counterparts get the attention for their work that they deserve.
And it was also heard by Twitter, which is already applauding Natalie Portman for calling out the female director shutout.
Ron Howard: "[We're] here to present the award for best director."
Natalie Portman: "And here are the all-male nominees." pic.twitter.com/SVGBmeKBz1— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) January 8, 2018
“And here are the all-male nominees,” Natalie Portman presenting Best Director pic.twitter.com/s0xNiBbssJ
— Ali M Latifi (@alibomaye) January 8, 2018
Another reason I love Natalie Portman. She tells it like it is. https://t.co/hzIrzyYBQv
— Quantum Mechanic®
(@JamesEFinch) January 8, 2018
I will never be able to stop clapping for what Natalie Portman just did
— gena ebeling (@genaebeling) January 8, 2018
#NataliePortman just destroyed the Hollywood Foreign Press, no big deal pic.twitter.com/76Q02iL2kv
— AL (@MissSchliez) January 8, 2018
Look this is nothing against the nominees themselves, who were winner Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water), Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk), Ridley Scott (All the Money in the World), and Steven Spielberg (The Post). But the Golden Globes shut out directors behind some of the best-reviewed and most-beloved films of the year. It disregarded top female talents and, as this evening has made crystal clear, women — entertainers and otherwise — will no longer be brushed aside. Or silenced.
