I once heard a very wise saying from two local news anchors on NBC. The saying was: "Bitches get stuff done," and the anchors were Tina Fey and Amy Poehler of Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update. No truer words have been spoken. Fey and Poehler proved this saying again last night at the 71st annual Golden Globes as they smashed the ratings ball out of the park. The 20.9 million viewers is a 10-year high for the Golden Globes, most likely a direct result of the powerhouse comedic couple's hosting. But these numbers show more than just how many people tuned in, they show how many more people tuned in to watch these women host than they ever did to watch a man host.
Ricky Gervais hosted three years in a row before Fey and Poehler took the reigns and upped the ratings. Gervais only managed to captivate about 17 million each year he hosted. When Tina Fey and Amy Poehler took the stage last year they blew Gervais' numbers out of the water scoring a handy 19.7 million views in their first year as hosts. Yes, Gervais' comedy was raunchy and not for everyone, but that's not why our lady hosts beat them so handily. They beat him because people were more interested in seeing what these women had to say than watching another white man host. People are eager for more diversity.
That's why a lot of people were upset that Lupita Nyong'o missed out on the best supporting actress award. Not that Jennifer Lawrence didn't deserve her award, but this just shows that viewers are eager to embrace talented people of a variety of backgrounds with different stories to tell. That's what Fey and Poehler brought to the Golden Globes in a year when women are surging ahead in film with breakout stars like Kerry Washington getting recognition for their talent in the industry.
Women's role in entertainment has long been debated. Do they bring in audiences? Do they not? Well, I think from the excellent female talent seated at the Golden Globes tables to the viewers pouring in to watch the female hosts, the answer is clear: yes they do.
Catching Fire, starring Queen of Everything Jennifer Lawrence as the kick-ass Katniss Everdeen, brought in $409 million domestically and secured the top movie of 2013, beating the white-man-action-movie Iron Man 3. (This is going to be my new statistic to pull pout whenever someone says that audiences won't see female-star action movies.)
People are eager for new things and for voices that have previously gone unheard. Now with Fey and Poehler's Golden Globes smashing records, let's hope the male-dominated industry will start to listen to those voices too.
Images: Getty Images; reactiongifs
