Golden Globes Decide ‘The Help’ Can’t Compete in the Comedy Category
The Golden Globe nominations are announced one month from today, which means that pretty soon we're going to be in full-on award season. (Oh yeah, we haven't even started yet, really.) That also means we're gonna begin reading stories about studios strategizing to position their films for the race ahead. For the Globes, one of the interesting decisions concerns whether or not you put your movie up for the Best Drama or Best Musical or Comedy category. With most films -- say, "War Horse" -- that's a pretty easy choice. But then you've got "The Help." Sure it's a period drama about Southern racism, but it's actually pretty funny as well. So which way should DreamWorks go? The studio tried for Musical/Comedy, but the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had decided that the movie has to be in the Drama category. Does that make that much difference in the race that really matters, the Oscars? Actually, yes.
The news comes from Deadline's Pete Hammond, who says that the HFPA had a meeting to determine "The Help's" status:
On Monday an HFPA committee rejected it in comedy and determined that it would compete as a drama where it will now go head to head with Disney/DreamWorks' other big hopeful, War Horse (assuming both get nominated as seems likely). It's not surprising. At a recent event I attended a lot of HFPA members were voicing concerns about having to judge The Help as a comedy. The film was indeed initially sold by Disney and DreamWorks with an emphasis on its lighter elements and past Globe winners in the category such as Driving Miss Daisy were similar in tone. Still that would have meant Viola Davis would compete in the Best Actress-Comedy or Musical category and no matter how you slice it her character, a civil rights era maid, just wasn't that funny.
Usually, the five nominees for Best Drama are much more impressive and Oscar-worthy than their Musical/Comedy compatriots. ("Red," "The Tourist" and "Burlesque" were all in the running last year for the latter prize.) But this year, the field could be packed with legitimate Oscar contenders in "Midnight in Paris" and "The Artist." (Hammond says that Fox Searchlight was considering sticking "The Descendants" in Musical/Comedy as well but decided against it.) Still, you have to assume that DreamWorks was betting that it could beat the comedy competition and then be able to say "Golden Globe Best Picture winner" in their for-your-consideration ads for "The Help."
We have to say, though: We wouldn't be shocked if "The Help" ended up winning the Drama prize. We haven't seen "War Horse" yet, and a few other drama nominees (like "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close") have yet to be unveiled. But people who love "The Help" really seem to love it, and that group could extend to HFPA voters. When "The Help" performed strongly back in August, we weren't convinced it was a lock for Best Picture. But considering that this year's Oscars has no clear front runner, a sentimental, emotional movie like "The Help" could surprise a lot of people. That may sound crazy, but remember: At this time last year, most folks assumed there was no way "The King's Speech" was going to win the big prize.
