The Greatest Showman #804 – Collective Melee

The 69th Golden Globe Awards concluded with "Descendants" and "The Artist" each taking home two trophies, leading the drama and musical comedy categories respectively, and emerging as the night's biggest winners. Notable stars such as Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, George Clooney, and Michelle Williams all received recognition, while the best screenplay award went to Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris." It was a night filled with acclaim, where nearly everyone had their moment of focus.

Yet, for all the excitement, two names stood out as the biggest regrets of the night: Renly and Ryan.

These two emerging actors experienced what could be called a double defeat—both nominated twice, yet failing to secure a single win. Ryan's nominations for "Inflatable Doll Love," "Blue Valentine's Day," "Crazy Stupid Love," and "Presidential Killing Bureau" remained unfulfilled, just like Renly's for "Pacific War," "Buried Alive," "Crazy in Love," and "I'm Fighting Cancer." Despite their strong performances, both actors were ignored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

For Ryan, this year appeared to be a breakthrough moment. In addition to his two nominated works, he also starred in "Desperate Drive," which won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival. His two works, "Desperate Driving" and "Presidential Killing Bureau," were considered strong contenders for recognition in the awards season.

Renly, on the other hand, had an impressive year with one TV series, one film, two independent films, and one commercial film. His stellar performances made him a top contender for Best Actor, with a trajectory similar to Leonardo DiCaprio's in 2006, when DiCaprio was widely considered the frontrunner with "Blood Diamond" and "The Departed." Despite losing to Forest Whitaker's powerhouse performance in The Last King of Scotland, DiCaprio's prospects were bright.

Although Renly's nominations were impressive, his competition was fierce. The awards season this year lacked a clear frontrunner, with no film or actor standing head and shoulders above the rest. Even Meryl Streep's performance in The Iron Lady, which received mixed reviews, didn't make her a standout. This made for an unpredictable and volatile awards season, with every actor and film holding a chance to win.

Renly's dual nominations—one in drama against Michael Fassbender and one in musical comedy against Jean Dujardin—gave him a shot at securing two Golden Globes, an accomplishment previously achieved by Kate Winslet in 2008 with Revolutionary Road and The Reader. If Renly had attended the ceremony, his presence could have strengthened his chances for an Oscar nomination by gaining valuable publicity for his campaign.

Unfortunately, he went home empty-handed, and this lack of recognition likely affected his Oscar prospects. The media speculated briefly whether Renly had intentionally skipped the ceremony in protest, but such rumors quickly dissipated.

The reality of this year's awards season is that it was a true melee, with a crowded and highly competitive field. Even without a dominant frontrunner, the performances across the board were exceptional, making predictions nearly impossible. Films like Hugo, War Horse, The Descendants, Help, Moneyball, and Desperate Drive all vied for recognition, with no clear leader. Even The Artist and Descendants, which took home Golden Globe awards, didn't dominate in a way that made their wins a foregone conclusion.

For the Best Picture category, the competition remained tight, with the top films showing strengths and weaknesses. Some works, like Tree of Life, Shame, Hermaphrodite, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and Bridesmaids, fell into a second tier due to weak public relations or more noticeable flaws in their execution. However, with enough momentum in the final stage of the nominations, any of these films could have made a comeback.

This year, the Academy's decision to expand the Best Picture category to ten nominations, a move made in response to public demand, meant that up to ten films could be nominated. But this also led to questions about whether the Academy had diluted the significance of nominations, as some worthy films failed to receive attention. The new system resulted in a confusing, unpredictable race, with twenty works competing for a limited number of nominations.

As a result, the entire awards season felt like a scuffle—a battle between actors, directors, and screenwriters—without any one name truly dominating the conversation. Notable actors like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Michael Fassbender, alongside younger talents like Renly and Ryan, all had multiple nominations to their names, with fierce competition coming from veterans like Leonardo DiCaprio and Gary Oldman.

The actress category also saw strong contenders like Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Kate Winslet, and Rooney Mara, all of whom had at least one significant film that had caught attention. The momentum in the acting category this year was notably strong, especially for the rising Generation Y actors. However, their Golden Globe losses raised questions about whether they would face the same fate in the Oscar race.

In the wake of the Golden Globes, the focus turned to the question of whether Generation Y actors would ever break through at the Oscars, as media outlets critiqued the Academy for possibly failing to keep pace with the new generation of talent. Could this year be another missed opportunity for the younger actors, or was their time on the horizon?

The melee continued, with no clear victor yet in sight. As the race for the Oscars intensifies, the stakes grow higher, and the competition even fiercer.