The anticipation and excitement that surrounds award ceremonies these days isn’t simply about who takes home a shiny statue at the end of the night. Neither is it just about who attends, who performs and who does something funny or meme-worthy. In 2018 we tune in to awards with the expectation that celebrities will use these televised platforms to comment on the big issues of the day. And after a stretch of heavily politicised shows this year, the BRIT Awards seemed to fall short.
Mainly because - on the night - the decision to actively supporting the #TimesUp movement by following in the Grammy’sfootsteps and handing out white roses and pins ‘as a symbol of solidarity, which we invite them to wear, if they so choose’, felt empty and flat.
Artists walked the red carpet with singular white roses in hand, obligingly posing with them - some uncomfortably waved them around in front of the camera, but as for adding something meaningful to the conversation around sexism and sexual harassment in all industries? There was surprisingly little - certainly compared to the other big awards ceremonies we've seen so far this year
A notable exception was Dua Lipa - the first artist of the evening to receive an award, who, in her acceptance speech for British female solo artist thanked ‘every single female that has been on this stage before me, that has given girls like me – not just girls in the music industry, but girls in society – a place to be inspired by, to look up and have allowed us to dream this big’.
‘Here’s to more women on these stages, more women winning awards and even more women taking over the world’, she concluded. However a sentiment that we had hoped would set the tone for the evening didn’t travel much further.
We're not sure what happened to everyone else’s roses in-between the red carpet and getting to their tables, but Ellie Goulding and Adwoa Aboah were the first two women to take to the stage with their physical roses still in hand later on in the show. If you squinted as the cameras panned the areas, though, you could spot a few sparkly rose pins on the lapels of a few celebs too.
Ellie used her stage time make a dig at Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow’s post-#GrammysSoMale suggestion that women in the music need to ‘step up’. ‘It’s so amazing to see so many people tonight wearing the rose. We’re very proud to be women and actually I think we can all agree that we’d been stepping up for years’, she said. It was kind of relevant, but it felt very distant from the cause we’ve been waiting for the UK music industry to address and support in force.
READ MORE: Films By Female Directors To Be Excited About In 2018
Debrief Films By Female Directors To Be Excited About In 2018
1 of 81. A Wrinkle In Time
Based on the book of the same name by Madeleine L'Engle, a movie adaptation directed by Ava DuVernay is on the way and if you haven't watched the trailer/seen that incredible Time magazine cover, you need to get on board because it's really exciting. It's a fantasy adventure film starring Oprah, Mindy Kaling and Reese Witherspoon and with this film Ava DuVernay has become the fourth woman and first African American woman to direct a film with a budget of more than $100 million. 23 March 2018
2 of 82. The Spy Who Dumped Me
Directed by Susanna Fogel, The Spy Who Dumped me is a comedy with Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon starring as BFFs who find out that the guy who dumped one of them is - wait for it- a spy. At the moment we know very little else about the film beyond the fact that Mila wears a blond wig at some point but we'll keep you posted.
3 of 83. Lady Bird
Greta Gerwig's directorial debut comes in the form of Lady Bird, the already hotly anticipated coming of age story that we all wish existed back when we were still in school. In short, it's a beautiful film about a young woman who likes to go by the name Lady Bird who is trying to navigate all of the usual suspects: her mother, her best friend, going to college, sex and, well, herself. 16 February 2018
4 of 84. Blockers
Kay Cannon who wrote the screenplays for the Pitch Perfect films is the director behind this comedy about three parents who find out about their daughters' plan to have sex on Prom night (otherwise referred to as a Sex Pact, apparently) and try to stop it happening. ILeslie Mann is in it and she's great. 6 April 2018
5 of 85. The Darkest Minds
This is another book adaptation that you're going to want to get familiar with real quick. Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and starring the incredible Mandy Moore, Amandla Stenberg and Gwendoline Crisitie, The Darkest Minds is all about the 2% of kids in America who survive a crazy disease and end up developing superpowers. It's got a bit of a Hunger Games meets Divergent vibe if you ask me. 14 December 2018
6 of 86. Can You Ever Forgive Me
Get ready for another dose of comedy fave Melissa McCarthy in this Marielle Heller directed project. She stars as the best-selling celebrity biographer Lee Israel (the film's based on her memoir, you see) who was well known for profiling big shots like Katherine Hepburn and Estee Lauder back in the 70s and 80s. That ism until she lost her groove and ended up selling forged letters and stuff. October 2018
7 of 87. High Life
Celebrated French director Claire Denis has only gone and directed her first English language movie. It's a sci-fi drama starring none other than Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche and Mia Goth and pretty much focuses on a group of convicts who are sent to explore a black hole (knowing that they probably won't be returning from space alive) in return for having their jail sentences reduced. It's about a father-daughter relationship, it's about family, it's about home, it's about the unknown.
8 of 88. You Were Never Really Here
And finally we have a thriller directed by Lynne Ramsay that promises to be the sort of thing that lingers in your mind for a while after watching. You Were Never Really Here is about a private 'contractor' who is tasked with recovering a teenage girl who's gone missing. It's pretty dark and violent and intense but packed a resounding punch at Cannes last year. 9 March 2018
Other important issues got a mention - there was of course Liam Gallagher’s musical tribute to the victims of the Manchester Arena attack last year, plus few rogue references to Brexit by a couple of presenters and a less than sober Damon Albarn. But the real talk-about moment from the night was Stormzy’s double award win (British Male Solo Artist and the MasterCard British Album Of The Year) and his closing performance which featured the lyrics ‘Theresa May where’s that money for Grenfell? What you thought we forgot about Grenfell?’. It was a ballsy, noteworthy performance that injected much needed energy and passion into a cause that he really cares about. So why could no-one at the BRITs do the same for The Me Too Movement?
The visual impact was never going to hit as hard as the Golden Globes black out did - and those stark visuals ensured that sexual harassment and gender equality was explicitly at the forefront of the agenda that night. It was mentioned in the majority of speeches, repeatedly referenced in red carpet conversation and reflected in the commentary around the night itself. We felt it and will remember it as the ceremony that set the tone for awards season 2018.
And while momentum has waned a little since then, we expected something a bit more noteworthy from last-night's turnout. It felt like the BRITs were paying lip service to the #MeToo movement, rather than trying to make an important point.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.