The Golden Globes and Gender: Unpacking Jo Koy's Contentious Comedy
By Sofia Levorchick
After a year packed with successful movies that topped box office records, the 2024 Golden Globes was supposed to be an event of celebration and laud. Celebrities arrived bedazzled from head to toe in designer gowns and suits, unexpectant of the ensuing controversy.
Celebrities prepared for a night to celebrate movies and their directors, actors, soundtracks, and producers. However, the moment host Jo Koy opened his mouth to begin his monologue, things took a troubling turn.
Jo Koy was the host for this year’s Golden Globes, selected two weeks before the event. Typically, hosts offer comedic relief to those attending the ceremony and those watching it on television from their homes. We have seen the controversy surrounding hosts of award shows in the recent past: Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards with the G.I. Jane joke directed at Jaida Smith resulting in a slap from her husband, Trevor Noah at the 2023 Grammy’s calling Harry Styles a sex symbol, and the list goes on.
Nevertheless, in the case of the 2024 Golden Globes, Jo Koy did a poor job of entertaining his audience, perpetually making some socially unaware commentary that was both offensive and irritating, fostering a rather unsettling atmosphere.
Koy tries to weave pop culture into his humor, using some nominated movies, such as Barbie and Oppenheimer, to facilitate a sense of relevance; yet, that worked to his disadvantage as his jokes surrounding Barbie did not offer comedy at all, only misogyny.
After throwing in, “Oppenheimer answered a lifelong question that’s been on my mind for years… Yes, scientists do get laid,” he played on the whole “Barbenheimer” concept, connecting the two films by segwaying the premise of Oppenheimer into his skewed interpretation of the basis of Barbie, which was one of the many comments that ticked off spectators.
“‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ are competing for cinematic box office achievements,” he said, “‘Oppenheimer’ is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project. And ‘Barbie’ is on a plastic doll with big boobies.”
Immediately after, a dry laughter barely filled the room, and the Director of ‘Barbie,’ Greta Gerwig nodded, with a look of disappointment but expectancy plastered on her face. To surmount the noticeable tension, a laugh track played after Koy’s contentious punchlines – an obvious and weak effort to create a facade for broadcasting purposes, falsifying a positive reaction to this senseless, sexist, and misogynistic “joke.”
‘Barbie’ was made to combat the normalization of sexism and misogyny in our society, depicting a woman’s arduous journey to self-actualization; yet, a host on live television at an award show dedicated to film made a sexist joke out of the movie.
In essence, this joke undermined the film's central idea while also supporting its overall ethos, serving as an example of how prevalent the sexist sphere is in the real world. His blatant misogyny essentially corroborated why the Barbie movie was made.
Cognizant of Koy’s immaturity, very few of the celebrities were laughing at his irksome jokes; in fact, camera footage displayed that they were cringing with disappointment and so were many at-home spectators, who immediately reacted on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
His words, inevitably, also sparked utter enragement across social media, with platforms on Instagram, X, and TikTok calling out the blatant misogyny and sexism within Koy’s commentary.
Matt Bernstein, a.k.a @mattxiv on Instagram, posted a criticizing meme that states, “Greta Gerwig: goes truly unthinkable lengths to create a film that explains the basic principles of feminism in the most accessible way possible” with a picture of Koy below it captioned “average man: ‘Barbie is based on a plastic doll with big boobies.’”
Though making harmless jokes to pester actors – a common comedic tactic by hosts – Koy offended and disturbed many in attendance, such as Selena Gomez, who was seen facepalming in her seat after another of Koy’s immature takes on Barbie.
"The key moment in Barbie is when she (Barbie) goes from perfect beauty to bad breath, cellulite and flat feet — or what casting directors call ‘character actor,’" he said.
Ryan Gosling, who played Ken in ‘Barbie,’ was seen wincing with embarrassment in his seat as well, most likely thinking the same thing as a lot of the spectators: Did you miss the entire point of the movie?
It’s clear that Jo Koy’s hosting was contentious and rather unprofessional, but this is just one instance of the mediatization of sexism – a societal construct rooted deep within the patriarchy of America’s history. ‘Barbie’ was an excellent effort, to propagate awareness about this issue, but there is still more to be done.
Sexism runs rampant in society, which is why movies like ‘Barbie’ were made and directed by women for women; movies as such speak out about these issues in a realistic light without hiding the raw experiences that many women endure throughout their lives. Unfortunately, Koy and many other men struggle to understand the purpose of the movie, which proves its point, making the themes of ‘Barbie’ applicable and apparent in our modern society.
Following Jo Koy's 2024 Golden Globes performance, it is unequivocally evident that his misplaced attempts at humor not only backfired but also reduced the significance of 'Barbie' to a superficial interpretation.
As time passes and Jo Koy sends apologies trying to mend his reputation, the limelight gradually dims on this incident. Nevertheless, it is still imperative to keep in mind sexism still is prevalent globally and Jo Koy’s commentary was just one televised instance with many sexism incidents not being broadcasted.
‘Barbie’ highlights the struggle for women to earn full respect in society; Gloria (America Ferrara) said, “It’s literally impossible to be a woman” and Barbie (Margot Robbie) said “Men look at me like I’m an object” – two scripted phrases that are said by the everyday woman. ‘Barbie’ made clear that the issues of sexism and misogyny need to be rectified as it portrayed how women are treated and are subjected to a deeply rooted patriarchy.
However, progress against sexism and misogyny can not only be made in cinema; women and girls across the globe must raise their voices to combat and acknowledge the pandemic of sexism, even if that means just standing up for oneself or signing a petition. As world-renowned writer and activist Maya Angelou said, “Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women.” And that’s what Barbie did in the movie, Jo Koy. No, she’s not just “a doll with big boobies”; by standing up for herself and finding her true identity in the real world, she becomes a woman representative of all women.
SOURCES:
Cain, Sian. “The joke's on Jo Koy: Golden Globes host delivers a bad gig for the ages.” The Guardian, 8 January 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/08/jo-koy-golden-globes-host-2024. Accessed 23 February 2024.
CBS. The Golden Globes. 2024. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvSHHnucouo.
Lang, Cady. “Jo Koy's Worst Golden Globes Joke Was About Barbie.” Time, 8 January 2024, https://time.com/6553085/jo-koy-golden-globes-barbie-joke/. Accessed 23 February 2024.
Li, Shirley. “Jo Koy’s Biggest Mistake at the Golden Globes.” The Atlantic, 8 January 2024, https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/01/golden-globes-jo-koy-host/677054/. Accessed 23 February 2024.
Walsh, Savannah. “Jo Koy's Jokes Draw Stony Silence at the Golden Globes 2024.” Vanity Fair, 7 January 2024, https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/jo-koys-jokes-draw-stony-silence-at-the-golden-globes-2024-awards-insider. Accessed 23 February 2024.