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LGBTQ Films and TV Shows Win at 76th Golden Globes

Katie Burkholder
Culture

LGBTQ stories won big Sunday night (January 6) at the 76th Golden Globes.

The 2018 Queen Biopic Bohemian Rhapsody won best film drama and lead actor Rami Malek, who portrayed bisexual Queen front man Freddie Mercury, took home best drama actor.

The comedy-drama Green Book landed three awards: best musical or comedy film, best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali, and best screenplay. Ali played black, queer musician Don Shirley in the film.

Despite their success on awards night, the two films were still awash in controversy.

“BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY and GREEN BOOK are definitely the best movies of the year unless you ask the communities those movies were supposed to represent,” writer and producer Louis Virtel tweeted.

Bohemian Rhapsody has been criticized for doing poor justice to Mercury as a person of color and bisexual man.

Criticisms of Green Book include poor portrayal of Shirley – his nephew, Edwin Shirley III pointed out several inaccuracies in the film – as well as portraying the white savior trope.

To make matters worse, the best screenplay award that the film won was accepted by three white men. “This is what it looks like when white men control stories of color and whitesplain our Black queer history on national television,” tweeted journalist Ernest Owens.

Several other LGBTQ films and shows took home awards. Sandra Oh was awarded best actress in a TV drama for Killing Eve – a show following a female police officer and psychopathic female assassin who become obsessed with each other.

Olivia Colman took home best actress for musical or comedy for the lesbian period film The Favorite, and The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story – a true crime anthology following the assassination of the gay Italian fashion designer – won best limited series or TV movie and best actor in a limited series or TV movie (which went to Darren Criss).

Ben Whishaw won best supporting actor for A Very English Scandal. In his acceptance speech, he dedicated the award to Norman Scott, who Whishaw portrayed in the show, calling him “a true queer hero and icon.”

He also expressed his desire to see more gay actors play straight roles. “It needs to be an even playing field for everybody, that would be my ideal,” he said.

The awards weren’t the only place to see LGBTQ representation. Twitter users went wild when actor Timothee Chalamet wore a “glitter leather daddy harness” on the red carpet.

While many believed he was inspired by queer-inspired fashion, the Call Me By Your Name said it was an “embroidered bib” from Louis Vuitton.

Black Panther stars Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, and Michael B. Jordan also made a bang with their entrance to the after party. The sketch featured an elevator and two passionate kisses.