Applause and cheers erupted throughout the packed theater as Awkwafina’s name was read aloud. Surprised and grateful, Awkwafina hurried up to the stage where she was greeted with a Golden Globe. Delivering a heartfelt speech, she and the audience soaked in the momentous milestone as Awkwafina claimed the title as the first ever Asian-American to win best actress at the Golden Globes. Awkwafina’s achievement from last year, as well as multiple others, has sparked a push towards diversifying the upcoming Golden Globes and Academy Awards. While this year’s award ceremonies will differ from traditional past performances, students plan to continue watching the Golden Globes and Academy Awards from home, cheering on their favorite films, actors, actresses, and producers. Many especially hope to see more representation of minority groups.

The 78th Golden Globes plans on taking place Feb. 28, after being postponed a month due to COVID-19. Many movie fans are excited to see the increase in recognition of underrepresented groups. In fact, according to the New York Times, five women of color were selected as the nominees for best director at the upcoming Golden Globes. “I think that these achievements both show how the awards are getting more diverse and how the film industry as a whole is getting more diverse. I think it’s awesome that more and more different cultures are being represented in film,” junior Byron Chan said. While the nominees for the Academy Awards, which is scheduled for April 25, have not been released yet, many expect to see a similar list of candidates as the Golden Globes.

From blockbuster films to show stopping performances, the list of nominees for this year’s Golden Globes seems to fulfill student expectations. “For Best Motion Picture, Animated I am really torn between ‘Over the Moon’ and ‘Soul’. For Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, I would pick Lin-Manuel Miranda, ‘Hamilton,’” senior Justice Shin said. However, other nominations do not meet expectations. “While I do hope that “Minari” wins Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language, I am very disappointed and angry that the Golden Globes refuses to consider Minari as a contender for Best Picture, because the movie is in another language other than English. The Movie is set in the US, directed by an American, starring Americans, and produced and distributed by American companies,” Shin said. 

Many recognized and argued against the constant uniformity at these film celebrations seen year after year. Each year brings about different issues regarding the underrepresentation of minority groups; however, the regularity of this has expanded the problem of unequal opportunity that the world continuously struggles to overcome. “There is a lack of diversity of on-screen representation and the academy awards have a long history of not recognizing the work of people of color. People of color have yet to reach proportional representation within the film industry,” Shin said. It wasn’t until the 2017 Academy Awards when the movie “Moonlight” became the first all-black cast to win best picture. Additionally, to add to the transition of Asian-American representation into the Oscars, the South Korean film “Parasite” made Oscar history as the first non-English speaking film to win the reputable award. “Through these historical moments, more people will be more open to considering international cinema and people of color more seriously in this industry. While the academy awards still has a long ways to go in terms of diversity, with these historical moments the barriers are broken down a bit more than before, as Bong Joon Ho said during his acceptance speech for best foreign-language film at the Golden Globes: ‘Once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,’” Shin said, in response to the momentous achievements of minority groups. 

As the films “Moonlight” and “Parasite” made history in the past few years, many hope that the film industry will continue a more regular trend towards celebrating a more diverse range of actors, actresses, films, and producers. While many see the world being divided, especially during recent events, the Golden Globes and Academy Awards have the opportunity to unite and honor the diversity amongst the film industry. Following this gradual trend towards equal representation, the world will take that next step closer towards establishing equality.