What Would 1965's Golden Globes Look Like In 2015?

It's the beginning of a new year and you all know what that means. No, not New Year's resolutions you won't keep to and a bright future of new celebrity scandals and secret marriages. It means it's the start of awards season, and few are as highly anticipated as the Golden Globes. The very first Golden Globe Awards took place in 1943 and, in the 72 years since, we've seen a lot of high highs and a lot of low lows. The 72nd Golden Globe Awards will take place on January 11, 2015, but before that fateful Sunday, I can't help but wonder how much the ceremony has changed in the last half-century. What would the 1965 Golden Globe Awards look like if they took place in 2015? Well, it wouldn't be in black and white, for starters.

It goes without saying that 1965 was a different time and thus the 22nd Golden Globe Awards a different ceremony than one you would see today. Considering the Awards took place at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, setting it in 2015 would be new and different just for the sheer fact that people of color would not only be welcome to attend but also be among the nominees and winners. For example, the fact that a show like Jane the Virgin exists — and is nominated for two Golden Globes — would have been unheard of in 1965.

But people of color aren't the only ones who would be represented today versus yesteryear. Where my ladies at? Not at the 22nd Golden Globe Awards, that's for damn sure. The Winners' List for Film in 1965 only had three females win, total, out of 15 nominees. Before you say, "that's not that bad" — note that each of those women only won in a Best Actress category. As in, they only won in categories that had to produce a female winner by the very nature of that category. Nowadays, we can have leading ladies taking home a Golden Globe for Best Director instead of just Best Actress, but that was not so in 1965.

And speaking of leading ladies and people of color, another thing that would have been unheard of at the 22nd Golden Globes is the number of LGBT-friendly nominees they would have to recognize in 2015. Between Orange Is the New Black and The Imitation Game, our award ceremonies are giving a lot of recognition and visibility to the LGBT community that has been historically persecuted or swept under the rug. Or, worse, portrayed as caricatures doomed to die by the end of the film or show. But in 2015, the Golden Globes is recognizing both those works and more for their excellence (and, boy, do they deserve it).

Would you look at all of those people staring in rapt attention at Julie Andrews as she makes her acceptance speech for her Golden Globe for Mary Poppins? That would not happen in our iPhone generation. If this was taking place in 2015, at least one Kardashian would be sitting in the back checking their own Google Alert while another person tries to film Julia Andrews on their iPad so they can gif it for the Tumblr fans later. And, fashion-wise, there's also a shocking lack of low-cut and off-the-shoulder dresses. I keep waiting for someone to show up in a completely sheer dress like Rihanna, or to see someone with cutout dress that has a slit that goes down to their waist. The standards of fashion in 2015 allow women many different ways to feel good and confident showing off their bodies. Men's suits, on the other hand, largely remain the same.

At the end of the day, while the Golden Globes, like all award shows, still has a long way to go when it comes to representation people of color, women, and the LGBT community for their hard work in film and television, they have at least come a long way in the last 50 years. And, thanks to technology, we no longer have to squint at our black-and-white television sets with the huge antennae to see our favorite stars. We can just tweet at them as they, likely, live-tweet the event as they attend it. While sipping Myx Moscato, of course.

Image: Golden Globes