The Drama is in as a Comedy/Musical. The Michael Jackson musical is competing for Best Drama. The awards world is upside down.
Screams of “category fraud” are reverberating across Film Twitter, Reddit, and Letterboxd as the Golden Globes have seemingly allowed every studio to pick its lane without any pushback… except for Michael. The Lionsgate biopic starring Jaafar Jackson as the King of Pop wanted to submit in Best Comedy/Musical for obvious reasons, but the petition was rejected by the group’s awards committee.
Because the Globes split contenders into Drama and Comedy/Musical, studios are supposed to follow specific guidelines, entering “in the category that best matches the overall intent, tone, and content of the film,” per the official guidelines. The Globes further spell out the distinctions:
- “A motion picture that is primarily intended to have a serious or dramatic tone but contains comedic overtones or elements shall be entered as a drama as opposed to a comedy.
- “Likewise, a motion picture that is primarily intended to have a comedic or satirical tone but contains dramatic overtones or elements shall be entered as a comedy as opposed to a drama.
- “A musical can be a comedy or a drama in which songs are used in addition to spoken dialogue to further the plot.”
But in practice, studios tend to choose the category they believe offers the clearest path to a nomination or win. That decision doesn’t always align with how a film was marketed, or how audiences might describe its genre. With rare exception, the Globes adhere to the studio’s discretion.
Competing as a Comedy/Musical has traditionally been viewed as an easier way to win than by going Drama. This year, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is considered a particularly formidable obstacle at the top of the dramatic slate, leading several films to take their chances elsewhere. Studios with multiple contenders often try to stake out different categories to avoid going head to head. This happened last year as Warner Bros. positioned Sinners (which features singing vampires) in Drama and One Battle After Another in Comedy/Musical for Globes purposes.
The mass exodus to Comedy/Musical began weeks ago, when Obsession was accepted as a comedy at the Globes. The horror film stars Inde Navarrette as Nikki, a woman who falls bloody head over heels for Bear (Michael Johnston) after he casts a magical love spell. The decision sparked immediate online outcry, especially when Gold Derby broke the news that Michael had tried to submit as a Comedy/Musical but was denied.
“Biggest category fraud I’ve ever seen,” claimed one user on X. “Obsession is surely horror, just horror.”
A Michael fan responded that it’s a “double standard” for the Globes to allow Obsession in comedy/musical since it’s “horror with dark themes,” but not the Jackson biopic since it actually contains musical elements.
“Submitting your horror film about rape and lack of bodily autonomy as a comedy is egregious,” read another X post. “Especially when one of the biggest news stories right now is about how rape survivors never get justice. Reducing it to a comedy to have a better chance of winning is absolutely vile.”
But there is precedent at the Golden Globes for the Obsession call. Quirky horror films like Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things were also nominated in the comedy category at the Golden Globes. Poor Things even won Best Comedy/Musical.
More examples of head-scratching submissions occurred ahead of last Friday’s Globe submission deadline. Neon’s serious biopic Artificial, about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, A24’s Zendaya-Robert Pattinson wedding film The Drama, about an engaged couple’s dark secrets being exposed, and Amazon MGM’s I Play Rocky, about the making of Rocky, were all accepted as comedies.
“Now I want to know how funny Artificial actually gets,” joked a fan on social media who had yet to see the Luca Guadagnino movie.
“OK this is the craziest one yet,” Erik Anderson of Awards Watch said of I Play Rocky‘s comedy designation.
Meanwhile, A24’s lighter Club Kid danced over to Drama, prompting an irate X user to post, “What?!? This is a comedy with dramatic elements to it.”
“Of the recent category placements at the Golden Globes, I will say I’m a bit surprised that Club Kid is going drama,” said another fan. “It’s a dramedy that leans more comedy than drama to me, personally. It gets you laughing way more than it does crying.”
However, the move does avoid A24 having to pit two of its contenders against each other in Club Kid and The Drama.
Meanwhile, Project Hail Mary, Amazon MGM’s space saga about one man’s last-ditch quest to save Earth, is going comedy, just like The Martian before it. That earlier Ridley Scott-directed movie provided a roadmap for the studio, as both are adaptations of Andy Weir novels, with scripts by Drew Goddard, and involve A-list actors in extreme situations: Ryan Gosling for Project Hail Mary, Matt Damon for The Martian. The Martian won Globes for Best Musical/Comedy and Musical/Comedy Actor for Damon.
“Musical/comedy is gonna be a bloodbath at the Golden Globes this year,” says critic Steven Reeves. “Sorry to all The Invite fans but between Artificial, Wild Horse Nine, The Debut, Project Hail Mary, Club Kid, Tender Loving Care, and possibly even Digger, it looks like there’s gonna be no room.”
Variety awards commentator Clayton Davis notes that while category fraud “happens every year,” the “industry reactions to some of these bold decisions feel louder this year.” But is that because this year’s awards contenders are harder to classify, or because pundits are simply being more outspoken?
Note: Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Eldridge and Penske Media Corporation, which owns Gold Derby.
