The Golden Globes’ Staggering Snub Of ‘I May Destroy You’ Has Sparked A Social Media Outcry

This morning’s Golden Globes nominations generally open awards season, but (as you no doubt realize) that schedule is all kinds of messed up this year. Still, the awards ceremony will happen on February 28 (co-hosted by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey on separate coasts), and expect it to be messy. Also messy? The actual nominations threw one heck of a stunner about five seconds into the live-streamed list:

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Emily in Paris
The Flight Attendant
The Great
Schitt’s Creek
Ted Lasso

That list mostly makes sense, yes? Well, it does in 4 out of 5 ways, all except for the first entry, Emily in Paris, which certainly has its place as airy entertainment but is almost entirely devoid of substance. That’s likely by design (it is, after all, a production from Darren Star, the king of primetime soaps), but Emily’s also held out by the French as an “insulting” depiction of the country, and it feels like an unintended personification of white privilege when it comes to the title character. And that makes things even more perplexing when it comes to the complete snub of one of the most authentic, dazzling, and Best Shows of 2020, HBO’s I May Destroy You.

Categorization here doesn’t really matter in this context, because the issue is that I May Destroy You deserved nominations, regardless of category. Yet it’s worth a quick scan here: it a limited series, or a comedy, or a drama? Arguably, this is a fiery and fearless show that could go either way, comedy or drama. It is more of a comedy, however, because although it deals with a bleak subject (sexual assault and consent), it is spiked with pitch-black humor. It’s an enormously funny show in places, but sure, it could arguably be shuffled over to the TV Drama category. I think fans would be satisfied enough with drama. Yet look, it didn’t end up there (or in the limited series list), either.

Best Television Series – Drama
The Crown
Lovecraft Country
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Ratched

Best Limited Series
Normal People
The Queen’s Gambit
Small Axe
The Undoing
Unorthodox

In addition, not a single acting nomination from the show materialized from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Snubs do happen, yes, but this feels particularly egregious, especially since Michaela Coel — who multi-hyphenated as creator, writer, star, executive producer, and co-director — received zero recognition for her stunning and layered creation. Twitter’s calling shenanigans, in a major way, on this highly influential show being bypassed for other selections (very much including Emily in Paris).

https://twitter.com/battinsuns/status/1356974567026221059

https://twitter.com/nikeshshukla/status/1356969229329829888

See you back here for the Globes ceremony on February 28.