It seemed in the bag: Kathryn Bigelow was going to win the Golden Globe for directing. But then we got a swerve. The Hollywood Foreign Press recognized James Cameron instead. Slowly but surely the Globes have become about as distinguished as an MTV Movie Award. Take for instance the Best Actor – Drama category. Back in the 1960s, the winner of the award went on to win the Best Actor Oscar 8 times out of 10. In 1998, Jim Carrey won for his performance in The Truman Show and yet he wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar. From 2000 to 2008, only 4 of the 8 Globe winners would go on to win Oscars.
Maybe Cameron’s win will adhere to the same results as the acting categories.
Because even though she lost to her ex-husband, Kathryn Bigelow made history over the weekend with the Best Director Prize from the Director’s Guild of America. She is the first woman to receive the honor in the organization’s 62-year history. And only seven women have ever been nominated for a DGA Award. If Bigelow were to go on a win an Oscar for directing, she would be the first woman to do so. It would be a monumental achievement and a watershed moment in cinema.
This year’s telecast could have a similar scenario that happened at three other Academy Award shows this decade. The Best Picture and Best Director could split. It happened in 2000 with Gladiator winning for film and Steven Soderbergh for his direction of Traffic. In 2002, Rob Marshall’s Chicago was selected as Best Picture, but Roman Polanski (The Pianist) won for directing. And in 2005, while Paul Haggis’s film Crash upset Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain for Best Picture, Lee was recognized for his direction.
