As the year comes to a close, movie critics and movie lovers recall the ground-breaking television shows and movies that opened up audiences eyes to topics and problems they wouldn’t have been exposed to during the Golden Globes. For television, topics like transgender issues, life in prison, the harsh reality of the dark side of our government, murderous towns and the lives of the “freaks” who were in the circus. On the other side of the Golden Globes, viewers were told stories about Martin Luther King Jr., the AIDS crisis, Alan Turing, Stephen Hawking, a boy’s journey through life, and a man who was trying to restart his career with a new Broadway musical.
Like the Emmy’s, there were some surprising wins. One in particular was Best Animated Film. Many fans were not sure of who would win in most of the categories except for this one and Best Director. The Lego Movie is last year’s Frozen. Everyone loves it and can’t get their iconic songs (in this case, “Everything Is Awesome”) out of their heads. This made it all the more surprising when How to Train Your Dragon 2 was called to the stage to receive the award.
Another surprise was newcomer Gina Rodriguez winning Best Actress in a TV show Comedy or Musical. She was in a category with actresses Taylor Schilling, Lena Dunham, Edie Falco and Julia Louis- Dreyfus, all of whom have played some ground-breaking roles. Even though many people have disagreed with her win, her speech definitely made up for it. When Ruth Wilson won for Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama, many people were disappointed because actresses like Robin Wright (House of Cards) and Claire Danes (Homeland) were at the top of the “Most Likely to Win” list.
Despite the surprising wins, there were many winners that have been described as “a well deserved win.” Matt Bomer (Normal Heart), Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Honorable Woman), Kevin Spacy (House of Cards) and Michael Keaton (Birdman) were among the many deserved winners of the night. They all played roles that opened up audience’s minds to important and ground-breaking ideas. Their hard work to make these characters come to life has definitely paid off, in that millions of people across the country have formed bonds with these characters.
One of this years unheard of winners was Transparent. Transparent tells the story of a father who comes out to his children as a transgender woman. Once his big secret was told, viewers not only get an insight to his journey to finding and accepting himself, but also to how it affects his family and how they change and evolve. The teleplays make viewers feel like they are a part of this family because the dialogue is rich and heart-wrenching. The series achieves what shows like Girls have been working to achieve. It discusses real issues and captures what real life is like, but keeps it interesting and grabs audiences attention the entire time they are watching it. All of these components are what make this show a surprising yet well-deserved win.
This year’s Golden Globes from beginning to end had many great laughs. There were many ground-breaking roles that were played and interesting movies and TV shows that were seen throughout the year. 2015 is going to be a year of interesting new television and movies, making next years Golden Globes a anticipated event.