The 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards experienced a total “blackout” as nearly all the actors and actresses showed up in black suits and gowns. Men and women showed their support for the Times Up initiative, which is a movement that helps women seek legal help due to sexual assault and inequalities in their workplaces.
In its early stages, Times Up was a series of meetings among many Hollywood actresses including Shonda Rhimes, Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, and America Ferrera, but has now blossomed into an organization that has launched a legal defense fund which has raised $13 million from donations in order to help women who are not able to afford legal representation.
The movement was born out of the Hollywood sexual assault scandal and the #MeToo movement. Many actors and actresses opened up about their experiences of sexual assault and held their assailants responsible. Many actresses posted the official Times Up letter of solidarity to their social media accounts before showcasing their support during the ceremony.
Along with wearing all black, many celebrities brought social activists as their plus ones to the event. Emma Watson brought Marai Larasi, the executive director of Imkaan, which is a United Kingdom-based organization to prevent violence against Black women and girls. Michelle Williams brought Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement, and Laura Dern’s guest was Mónica Ramírez, the director of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.
In their letter of solidarity, the Time’s Up organization states, “we seek equal representation, opportunities, benefits, and pay for all women workers, not to mention greater representation of women of color, immigrant women, disabled women, and lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women.” The letter and the presence of so many social activists and actresses in black serves as a manifesto for the entire country.
The debut of Time’s Up and the presence of having multiple social activists at the Golden Globes transformed the ceremony into something that has always been about the actors and actresses to being something about humanity as a whole. The ceremony taught its viewers and the rest of America that sometimes all we need to foster change is to stand in solidarity.
Actresses, their guests, and the many women who supported the organization from their own homes showcase a new age for women. It is an age of social justice and powerful voices. It is an age in which we say, time’s up.