The Globes: great host, obscure films, kinda fun

Fresh from the Golden Globes, I’m confused about life itself.
One person said “Baby Reindeer” is a success because it shows “the painful inconsistencies of being human.” Another said “Wicked” scored because it’s “a radical act of optimism.”
Which is it, pain or optimism? Several of the winners said we’re in dark times; the final one said “light always overcomes darkness.” Perhaps, but you usually have to wait four years for that.
Whatever we make of that, the Globes were a mixed bag as usual. The winners were obscure, the host (Nikki Glaser, shown here pre-show) was brilliant and the acceptance speeches were …
Well, things got off to an awful start when Zoe Saldana seemed to turn her speech into a mini-series. After that, I started rooting for:
— Anyone who wasn’t there, thus saving us a speech. Alas, there was only one such winner, Jeremy Allen White.
— Anyone who doesn’t speak English.
The latter notion worked fine at first. Two “Shogun” people won, said a few words and left.
But then the “Emilia Perez” director came onstage with a dreary speech and a translator. “That was a bit boring,” he then said, which would be true if “a bit” meant “extremely.”
The TV awards, as expected, were led by “Hacks” (best comedy, best actress) and “Shogun” (best drama, actor, actress, supporting actor). The movie awards were dominated by films few people have seen. “No one was asking for a three-and-a-half hour film about a mid-century designer,” the “Brutalist” writer-director said, accurately.
Still, “Brutalist” won for best drama, director and actor; “Emilia Perez” won for best comedy, supporting actress, song and film in a non-English language.
Despite many things, the show was fun. Some of the presenters were clever; Seth Rogan and Catherine O’Hara, both Canadians, had a particularly good bit claiming that their homeland had “Golden Antlers” awards. And Glaser was great.
She riffed on titles. “The Bear,” “The Penguin” and “Baby Reindeer,” she told us, “are not just things you find in RFK’s freezer.”
She lauded “Wicked”: “I loved it, my boyfriend loved it, my boyfriend’s boyfriend REALLY loved it.”
And she told us to save a copy of the show. Five years from now, we can look at the Hollywood crowd and say, “That was before they caught the guy.”
She had much more, including a few mid-show jokes. Her best came when she proposed merging “Wicked” with “Conclave,” the drama about choosing a pope. Soon, she was breaking into the song, “Pope-ular.”
At the time, Glaser happened to be in my favorite of the approximately two zillion gowns she wore that night. This one was bright red and low-cut; later, Morris Chestnut had a suit that was even redder, Andrew Garfield had a shirt that was even lower-cut.
Also in fashions, two people who were presenting together had the best and worst neckware. The best was Salma Hayek, glowing in jade; the worst was Colman Domingo, who seemed to have mistaken his napkin for a necktie.
Overall, it was a fun night. And for next year? Let’s have more Canadians, no translators and maybe a couple more movies someone has seen.