What Qualifies as a Comedy for the Golden Globes?
Saturday, December 19, 2020 at 12:10PM 
It was announced this week that the forthcoming Promising Young Woman (my favorite film of 2020) will be campaigned at the Golden Globes in the comedy/musical races. There’s definitely a case to be made for its classification as a comedy, even though it’s very dark. I agree that it’s the right choice though surely some will argue. Similarly, The Flight Attendant, which just earned a season two renewal from HBO Max, is likely to be considered a comedy for the TV categories, an interesting choice given the fact that it’s really a thriller. This isn’t the first time there’s at least been room for debate about what actually counts as a comedy with the HFPA and other groups…
One area that’s worthy of its own thread is the second half of that comedy/musical distinction, with Rocketman being deemed a musical while Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star is Born, both of which contain many musical performances, competed instead in drama. There are also a handful of instances of TV shows that have officially switched genres for awards purposes midway through their runs, like Boston Legal, Orange is the New Black, and Shameless. But I want to focus instead on the tendency for films to campaign as comedies because it’s likelier to boost their chances and, ultimately, their Oscar profiles.
In 2017, Get Out was submitted as a comedy, and director Jordan Peele responded by describing it instead as a documentary. As social commentary, perhaps it was just so heightened and absurd that a comedy felt like the only appropriate way to identify it. The Martian, which won the comedy/musical Best Picture prize in 2015, is a bit of a stretch since it’s more of a sci-fi drama. I can’t comprehend how Salmon Fishing in the Yemen netted enough votes to earn three Golden Globes bids in 2012, and I’d also say that it’s a forgettable lighthearted romance, which did not strike me as a comedy.
While Ryan Reynolds did manage to earn a Globe nomination for Deadpool, which is inarguably a comedy, I remember other lead performers from superhero movies who were at least discussed as comedy contenders even if they were never seriously pushed, like Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man and Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man. Those aren't remotely comedies in the way that Deadpool was. That supports the notion that popcorn entertainment can’t be the same as drama, pushing anything that isn't a straight drama into the comedy races. I think it does a disservice to true comedies to break things down that way. If Nathaniel is the ultimate champion of performance category fraud, maybe my calling is the strict maintenance of genre? If we’re going to have more categories – which I think is great, since more people get honored that way and there’s more to predict – campaigns may as well be fair and truly representative of what a movie is supposed to be, not what’s likelier to result in accolades.
What say you – should there be a clear definition of comedy, or is the system working as is?
Reader Comments (13)
Is the system working? I think so, but only if you look at what the golden globes really are: a chance to kick off the award season with as many contenders and rising stars as possible. Having a flexible definition, then, works because it allows some lighter performances to stick around and get a second look.
If you assume the globes are all about honoring movies and shows on their merit as comedies/dramas, I don’t think too many of the placements are truly bad though. In the past few years, they’ve actually made corrections. It used to be that actors in biopics of singers were in comedy and now they’re more routinely found in the drama category (e.g. Reese and Jamie Foxx vs Lady Gaga).
Its the Golden Globes! Who cares! they mean nothing to serious film making...
Bjork was nominated as a Drama actress, but Dancer in the dark is clearly a musical (a very dark one, but a musical)
Though it would probably mess up the chances of musicals getting nominated sometimes, I wish the comedy or musical category was just comedy and that musicals competed in whichever category best fit their film.
I buy THE MARTIAN in Comedy/Musical. I certainly laughed more watching it (and there were several recurring jokes, physical humor, witty dialogue, and smooth comedic timing to justify its category placement) compared to watching THE BIG SHORT, it’s biggest competition that year.
Cate Blanchett shoulda gotten in for comedy for her performance in Thor:Ragnarok. Maybe Goldblum too.
I was sad when Chadwick Boseman competed for lead in Drama with Get Up when he could've won the Comedy/Musical category,he was due a 1st nomination ages ago.
They gave one to Pia Zadora and nominated The Tourist for Best Comedy/Musical.
Is that all that's need to be said about that shitstain of an award show run by a bunch of drug pushers, pedophiles, rapists, and douchebags who don't know shit about films?
This year movies that will probably be placed in the Comedy/Musical category include
The Prom
I;m Thinking of Ending Things
On the Rocks
French Exit
Emma
Promising Young Woman
The Happiest Season
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Borat 2
Palm Springs
Any news about "Next Goal Wins"? Will it make the deadline? What about the dramas "Cherry" and "The Eyes of Tammy Faye:"?
Here's a thought: Could "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" be submitted in the Musical/Comedy categories since it is sort of/kind of TECHNICALLY a musical (since it has a few musical numbers in it and very music-themed)? It would sweep the category if it did.
Honestly: The old justification for Musical being the additional category to Comedy was that live-action Musicals, old school non-performance MUSICALS, were fairly FREQUENT in the American film scene, not just one to two live-action musicals of that type a year. Musical should PROBABLY change to Action, to account for the current scene...?
thevoid99 -- please dont be a Qanoner in here. This is my online home. I like it to be free of insanity.
Irvin -- they've been so fluid with the category in the past i dont see what not. On the other hand it kind of bugs me that they're so fluid -- like how is A STAR IS BORN not a musical if ROCKETMAN is a musical and so forth. But even the Tonys have this problem. Like Audra McDonald won Best Actress in a Play for doing that Billie Holliday concert drama in which she was singing as much as she does in her musicals.
And now Promising Young Woman is going to be considered a drama - I'm not sure I remember when there were so many publicly reversed category decisions. I'm fine with it being a drama though I do think it's equally a comedy.
What I'm not happy about is Hamilton competing as a film since it already had its shot at awards, and aside from new editing, this isn't a new presentation.