It was a whiteout at the Golden Globes with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) failing to hand out any of its annual awards to any black, brown, yellow or red folks. Thus, there was little “Glee” among members of minority groups as they were left disconnected from “The Social Network.”.

By KAM WILLIAMS
Contributing Writer

It was a whiteout at the Golden Globes with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) failing to hand out any of its annual awards to any black, brown, yellow or red folks. Thus, there was little “Glee” among members of minority groups as they were left disconnected from “The Social Network.”

But even more surprising than those results was the way in which the show’s host, Ricky Gervais, went out of his way to court controversy. His unscripted remarks ranged from introducing Bruce Willis as Ashton Kutcher’s dad to insinuating that the HFPA accepts bribes for nominations to outing a couple of celebrity Scientologists as gay.

The producers found the insults so offensive that they kept the ostensibly-inebriated Gervais offstage completely for about an hour or so to sober up while they read him the riot act. But after his unexplained absence, Ricky only picked right back up where he left off, ending the evening with a swipe at the Creator, signing off with, “Thank you to God for making me an atheist.”

As for the Globes, which are considered an Academy Awards indicator, The Social Network emerged as the early Oscar favorite, given that it won in four categories: Best Picture (Drama), Director, Score and Screenplay. Next in number were The Kids Are All Right and The Fighter, which garnered a couple of trophies apiece. In terms of TV, Glee netted a trio of Globes, including Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.