efore director Greta Gerwig’s all-star film, Barbie, had released, we made all sorts of assumptions about it. The assumption that it would be a comedy film was not out of line. However, upon release, it became abundantly clear that our assumptions were wrong. Barbie is not a musical or a comedy. It is a drama, and an important one at that. Not just because it made a billion dollars but because its overall message took our interpretation of this “doll” and turned it on its head.

So, when the Golden Globes 2023 nominations were revealed, it came as an utter shock that Barbie, primarily a drama, was nominated as best film - musical or comedy. Perhaps Barbie can celebrate the fact that it has more nominations (11) to its credit than any other film this year.

Other films like Air also do not belong in the musical or comedy category. But then again, Golden Globes have a history of pulling such tricks in its effort to appease everyone.

The Best Film (Musical or Comedy) category is a comedy in itself and the best thing to do is to move away from it.

It isn’t fair to films like Barbie or Air but this is how the Globes function. Even when artists win, they find it confounding as Matt Damon did when he won Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for The Martian. Ditto for the film’s prestigious director, Ridley Scott, who also found the award in the category puzzling.

Nominations for Best Film – Drama acknowledge some of the year’s best work in film.

This might be Chris Nolan’s year with his excellent biopic on American theoretical physicist, Oppenheimer who is known as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’.

Other nominations in the category such as Anatomy of a Fall, Past Lives, The Zone of Interest are certainly good films but they are not just competing with Oppenheimer but at least two films with name recall value.

Among them is Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon ft. Leonardo DiCaprio and Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, who has directed the all-star film and is also playing the chief role.

Actors who belong in the drama category nominated elsewhere is what makes the upcoming ceremony a put-off. For instance, Margot Robbie is not nominated as Best Actress in a dramatic role. She is up for Best Actress in Musical or Comedy.

The most interesting category is that of Best Director where Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Greta Gerwig (Barbie), Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon) will face off each other along with Celine Song (Past Lives) and Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things). If buzz around the films is to be believed, it is being said that Robert Downey Jr. has a good chance in Best Supporting Actor category for Oppenheimer.

In television, a similar mucking up can be found with drama nods given in comedy/musical categories.

However, what we can expect from the 2024 ceremony is a possible victory for Succession which bids farewell after several successful seasons. But Succession will have to fight it out against popular shows such as The Crown, The Diplomat, The Last of Us, 1923 and The Morning Show (ft. Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and wait for it, Julianna Margulies).

In other notable categories, we are rooting for Elizabeth Debicki from the final season of The Crown in Best Supporting Actress – Television category. If you go back and watch footage of Lady Diana Spencer and how she conducted herself in the public and go back to The Crown, you will notice just how well Debicki has acted, picking up the late princess’s mannerisms in a way she didn’t in season five. It is like this is the Diana we knew and loved or in some cases, still love. Of course, her greatest adversary in the category is Meryl Streep for her role in Only Murders in the Building.

The Globes, decided by a process of voting by 300 journalists don’t equate with the Oscars which are voted by over 10,000 film industry professionals and while the former includes television, the latter do not.

The rest, as they say, is up in the air, primarily because of the musical/comedy categories cherry -picking shows and actors that belong in any category but comedy.

Our bet is that Succession (in its final year) will win in television categories while Oppenheimer, Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Maestro could emerge victorious in film categories, especially since some of these purely dramatic films are relegated to comedy or musical categories and other deserving films shutout.

Will there be a surprise winner? That, dear reader, is the real question.

-The annual Golden Globes will take place on January 7, 2024 and will be aired live on CBS. Until then, tick tock