The overall show of the 81st Golden Globes Awards, held on January 7 in Beverly Hills, California, was generally judged as lackluster—the conducting was definitely not one of the best the award ceremony has had over the years, and a good chunk of the jokes were met with a sea of embarrassed-to-mortified expressions that made the whole thing look like a Renaissance painting dedicated to cringe.
Still, the internet has found many a detail to obsess over, from The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri coming for Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgard-Jones’s crown of “(possible) on-screen couple who are just the absolute sweetest in real life” to Bill Hader working very hard to get that “father of the year” award by taking a selfie with Taylor Swift to show his daughters.
And then, of course, there was Cillian Murphy, winner of his first Golden Globe in the category of Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for his role as the titular character in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and poster boy for all introverts forced to attend a social event.
Murphy is famously reserved, and his expressions on the Globes red carpet were very much in line with the attitude he has always had towards the more celebrity-like aspects of an acting career.
The jokes and memes in response to that—all in good fun of course—were excellent.
That little smile was so iconic that even the official account for ultra-budget airline Ryanair had to comment, evoking a truly quintessential experience for everyone who lives in Europe or has traveled through Europe.
Still, despite his usually quiet presence, he still couldn’t pass up the opportunity to slip a couple of jokes into his acceptance speech—one of which was dedicated to his fellow Irishmen, who made up a cool half of the six nominees in his category.
The shenanigans also continued during the press conference after the ceremony, where Murphy attempted to make a quick exit only to be called back by photographers who just couldn’t get enough of him and his not-so-optimally-placed new Golden Globe.
Finally, let’s conclude with a thought to another member of the brotherhood of introverts—Ben Affleck, whose hug with long-time friend and Air co-star Matt Damon was a perfect example of “an introvert being all smiles with that one extrovert friend they have latched onto.” As one of the introverts myself, I can say that we truly love to see it.
(featured image: Tommaso Boddi/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images)
