It’s so easy to criticize the Academy Awards’ ignorance of the merits of comedy (even if such criticism is unfounded), but the Golden Globes have rarely been so deserving of scrutiny in their exclusion of the funny business. After all, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association actually has a category for best comedies of the year. Sure, the genre is still considered second fiddle to drama and has to share its category with musicals (which are sometimes musical dramas), but at least we know there’s a place that honors Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future and Crocodile Dundee as one of its year’s best pictures (thank goodness for the musical-less ’80s!). The problem is, now that the musical genre is back in (near) full force, comedies are not getting as much recognition, even in their own (shared) category.
Following the Globe nominees yesterday, there was a good deal of complaining going on that Knocked Up wasn’t one of the Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy nominees. At New York magazine’s Vulture blog, they said, “what’s a Comedy award for, if not to reward the best-reviewed and most successful comedy of the year? Apparently, it’s to reward quasi-musicals like Across the Universe, quasi-comedies like Charlie Wilson’s War, or quasi-movies like Hairspray.” Dave Karger at Entertainment Weekly actually thought the “best-reviewed comedy of the year” got snubbed in the best actress and best supporting actor categories, too. And Carpetbagger David Carr points out that if the Best Motion Picture Drama category can have seven films listed, the Musical or Comedy box should get to have two more picks. But would Knocked Up have really gotten one of those two slots?
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