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Dreamgirls' Lands a Trio of Golden Globes: Black Film Critics Vindicated

by Kam Williams

Dreamgirls emerged the big winner at the 64th Annual Golden Globes, landing awards in the Best Picture (Musical or Comedy), Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy) and Supporting Actress (Jennifer Hudson) categories. No other film managed to take home as many trophies, leaving Dreamgirls the early favorite in the Oscar race also.

Babel was a big surprise as the Best Drama, especially since Martin Scorcese (The Departed) was dubbed as Best Director. Although it came as no surprise when Forest Whitaker was picked as Best Actor (Drama) for his inspired performance as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, he appeared overwhelmed by the honor and just kept saying "Wow!" until he could collect himself. By contrast, Sacha Baron Cohen never lost his composure during his well-rehearsed acceptance speech for Borat, in which he admitting having felt, "I'd better win a bloody award for this."

Helen Mirren was feted twice by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, hosts of the event, for playing QE2 in The Queen, and for playing QE1 in Elizabeth I. As a member of the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA), I can't help but feel a bit vindicated by the overall Golden Globe results, which agreed with 5 of the 6 picks announced by our organization in December.

We had picked Dreamgirls, Whitaker, Mirren, Hudson and Murphy, differing only in our decision that Dreamgirls' Bill Condon was the best director. However, AAFCA was subsequently snubbed by colleague Eric Childress who refused to post our picks alongside all the other nationally-recognized critics associations disseminated on his website at EFilmCritic.com. He arbitrarily decided that "We will not include awards by the African-American Film Critics Association. because they are exclusionary, inclusive and only represent a portion of the films and critics out there." What's up with that? Can't the same be said about the NY, LA, Boston or Chicago film critics' societies?

It is unfortunate that Mr. Childress has chosen to ostracize black film critics, ostensibly based solely on the color of our skin, especially when we've proven in the past to be every bit as capable of assessing the quality of movies as whites. In fact, just last year, ours was the only leading association to choose Crash, the eventual Academy Award-winner, as Best Picture. So, given the recent embracing of black actors and actresses as Oscar-worthy, I say it is high time that the African-American critics also be allowed to break the color line and valued as contributors to what must be a multi-cultural perspective in terms of determining the beauty and quality of cinematic works of art.

Complete List of Golden Globe Winners

Best Motion Picture - Drama Babel

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama Helen Mirren - The Queen

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy Dreamgirls

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy Sacha Cohen - Borat

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls

Best Animated Feature Film Cars

Best Foreign Languge Film Letters From Iwo Jima

Best Director - Motion Picture Martin Scorsese - The Departed

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture Peter Morgan - The Queen Best Original Score - Motion Picture Alexander Desplat - The Painted Veil

Best Original Song - Motion Picture Prince Rogers Nelson - "The Song Of The Heart" from Happy Feet

Cecil B. DeMille Award Warren Beatty

Best Television Series - Drama Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer (TNT)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama Hugh Laurie - House (FOX)

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy Ugly Betty (ABC)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy America Ferrera - Ugly Betty (ABC)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock (NBC)

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television Elizabeth I (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television Helen Mirren - Elizabeth I (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Bill Nighy - Gideon's Daughter (BBC)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Emily Blunt - Gideon's Daughter (BBC)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Jeremy Irons - Elizabeth I (HBO)