Female Empowerment Was The Big Theme Of The Golden Globes

The Golden Globes is one of the year's big movie and TV award ceremonies, and it is usually most notable for providing a hint of what is likely to do well at the Oscars the following month. This year's was different, however, as it was the first major ceremony to be held in the wake of the various sexual harassment scandals that have rocked Hollywood over the past few months.

As a result, there were a variety of references to these issues made from the stage. Host Seth Meyers confronted them head on from the start. "There's a new era under way, and I can tell because it's been years since a white man was this nervous in Hollywood," he said, before making explicit reference to disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein. "Don't worry, [Weinstein] will be back in 20 years when he becomes the first person ever booed during the In Memoriam [section of the ceremony]."

Meyers also took shots at another two famous figures who have been caught up in the scandals--Kevin Spacey and Woody Allen. "I was happy to hear they're going to do another season of House of Cards," he said. "Is Christopher Plummer available for that, too? I hope he can do a Southern accent, because Kevin Spacey sure couldn't."

As for Allen, Meyer made reference to Guillermo Del Toro's acclaimed fantasy The Shape of Water. "I have to admit, when I first heard it was a movie about a naive young woman falling in love with a disgusting sea creature. I thought, Man, not another Woody Allen movie."

Natalie Portman made a veiled criticism of the fact that although the drama Lady Bird won Best Comedy or Musical and Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical (for Saoirse Ronan), the film's director, Greta Gerwig, was not nominated. "Here are the all male nominees," the actress said before reading the names of the five men who were up for the award. In addition, many of the female stars and nominees present wore black gowns to stand in solidarity with victims of sexual assault and harassment.

But the evening's most powerful speech came from Oprah Winfrey, who received the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award. "I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon," she told the audience. "And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say 'Me too' again."

In terms of the awards themselves, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Big Little Lies were among the big winners. Three Billboard's wins included Best Picture, Drama, along with acting awards for Best Actress (Frances McDormand) and Best Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell).

HBO's limited series Big Little Lies was also a big winner, taking home wins for Best TV Limited series, Best Performance by an Actress in a TV series (Laura Dern), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a TV show (Alexander Skarsgard), and Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series (Nicole Kidman). Click here to see the full rundown of Golden Globe winners and nominees.