A breakdown of three prominent award shows this season.

By Marisa Valenzano

Golden Globes: January

10th awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association since 1944, the Golden Globes recognize excellence in American and international film and television. Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association vote on the nominees and winners from films and TV shows released in the calendar year (Jan 1 - Dec 31). The Banshees of Inisherin ended up taking home the most wins with three, in cluding Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy while Everything erywhere All at Once and Fabelmans tied with two wins each. Abbott Elemen tary won three of five awards with The White Lotus fol lowing closely behind with two wins. This 2023 Golden Globe’s marked a revitalized comeback as many stars boycotted the 2022 awards in protest over the HFPA’s questionable practices and overall lack of diversity. The organization was criticized for corrup- tion, bribery, and a lack of Black members. The organization has since apologized, with Black comedian Jerrod Carmichael as the invited host. Whale nominee Brendan Fraser did not attend because in 2018 he came forth with a sexual assault allegation against a former president of the HFPA.

Grammys: February 5th

The Grammy awards are presented by Recording Academy of the United States to recognize “outstanding” achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious awards in the music industry worldwide. Lizzo won record of the year with “About Damn Time,” Bonnie Raitt took home song of the year with “Just Like That,” Harry Styles won Album of the Year, and Best New Artist was awarded to Samara Joy. The selection process for the GRAMMY Awards was altered last May, following very public criticisms from The Weeknd when he didn’t win. The show no longer uses anonymous review committees to determine its nominees, yet, this year’s awards still saw famous artists such as Drake and Silk Sonic decline to submit their music for consideration in protest. The album of the year catego sparked intense discourse online when Harry Styles won over Beyonce. Things only got worse for the white British superstar when he claimed, “this doesn’t happen to people like me very often,” in his acceptance speech. Howev er, Beyonce did break the record for most Grammys won all-time by an artist with an astounding total of 32 Awards to her name.

SAG Awards: February 26th

Screen Actors Guild Awards, known as SAG Awards, are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). Since its founding, SAG Awards have been one of the major awards events in the Hollywood film industry, and is unique in that it’s the only ceremony that exclusively honors the actors. To little sur- prise, this year, Everything Everywhere All at Once took home multiple awards on the night. Not only did the film win for the Motion Picture Cast category, but its stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan won for Female Actor in a Leading Role and Male Actor in a Supporting Role, the first time an Asian had won in either award. A heartwarming acceptance speech from James Hongfurther summarized the emotions of the night. He spoke of yellow face and other racist behavior he has witnessed over his career, and how proud he was of the movie and cast for overcoming those experiences. While diversity still has a long way to go within award shows and production, Everything Everywhere All at Once proves things are headed in a positive direction.

666 pairs of sold out shoes. But, ultimately, this lawsuit helped both parties because Nike was able to distance themself from the projand MSCHF received a lot more attention including an article in the New York Times. While MSCHF may be known for their Big or Devil shoes, there is much more intention work than the casual observ- er might know.

The Last Of Us is set in the United States after a fungal pandemic causes a full-on zombie apocalypse. It follows Joel, a hardened survivalist who lost his daughter when the virus first broke out, and Ellie, a 14 year-old who is immune, and potentially humanity’s last hope in beating the virus. The duo cross the country to get Ellie to the doctors, who claim they can use her to make a cure, slowly forming a father-daughter relationship in the process.

The story was originally a video game developed by Naughty Dog and released in 2013. It was a smash hit, winning four awards and selling 37 million copies between the original and its sequel, the Last of Us 2.

The much-anticipated TV adaptation, teased years ago, finally released January 15 of this year, and immediately took off. The premier alone garnered 4.7 million viewers, and a second season has already been confirmed, even before the release of the final episode in season one. The ninth and final episode is set to release March 12.

Creating shows that already have an established audience is a fantastic idea, but it can easily go wrong. Video games in particular have a long history of adaptations that fall flat, especially in the eyes of the communities most looking forward to it. To combat this, Niel Druckmann, the writer and creative director for the video games, was deeply involved in the creative process for the series. While some changes still have been controversial, the majority of fans believe the TV show has only elevated the main story by expanding on elements that were more forgettable in the game.

In the show, nearly an entire episode is devoted to the story of how the doomsday prepper and the seemingly average Frank met and fell in love, the forces they had to face to keep their idyllic life, how they helped Joel, and how, when Frank falls fatally ill, Bill chooses to die alongside him. Ellie and Joel never speak to Bill in the show, instead finding a letter he wrote them, telling Joel, “I used to hate the world and I was happy when everyone died. But I was wrong. Because there was one person worth saving.” The stark change from the original storyline in the game, where Bill and Frank’s relationship is toxic and only mentioned in passing, serves to accentuate one of the most important topics and themes within the series: how love and caring for people is innately human, and how it persists through even the most dire of circumstances.

The show is heartfelt and at times gut-wrenchingly tragic, with humor sprinkled throughout to make it clear that even at the end of the world, humanity and love still shines through.