Justice for Michaela Coel! Dylan O’Brien is one of many fans who were shocked to see I May Destroy You left off the long list of nominees for the 2021 Golden Globe Awards.
“Golden Globes are laughable. Not only is I May Destroy You absolutely f–king brilliant, it should be required viewing,” the Teen Wolf alum, 29, tweeted on Wednesday, February 3, after the nominations for the upcoming awards show were announced. “Apparently you can be TOO far ahead of humanity @MichaelaCoel we don’t deserve you.”
Coel, 33, created, wrote, codirected, produced and starred in the critically acclaimed HBO series, which was shut out of every eligible category for the 78th annual Golden Globes. I May Destroy You follows Arabella (Coel), a young woman who attempts to rebuild her life after it gets turned upside down in the wake of sexual assault. While she struggles to remember the details of the incident, she tries to put the pieces back together with the help of her friends.
The British drama was one of the most-talked-about series of 2020, but apparently failed to impress the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Many fans compared Coel’s powerful project to Netflix’s Emily in Paris, which was nominated for Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy. Lead actress Lily Collins also earned a nod for her performance.
TV lovers aren’t the only ones who are disappointed by the lack of recognition for Coel and her series. Emily in Paris writer Deborah Copaken penned a lengthy op-ed for The Guardian on Wednesday, admitting “it never occurred to” her that the campy Netflix series would be nominated for anything and that she was “stunned” by the I May Destroy You snub.
“I May Destroy You was not only my favorite show of 2020. It’s my favorite show ever,” Copaken wrote. “It takes the complicated issue of a rape – I’m a sexual assault survivor myself – and infuses it with heart, humor, pathos and a story constructed so well, I had to watch it twice, just to understand how Coel did it. … That I May Destroy You did not get one Golden Globe nod is not only wrong, it’s what is wrong with everything.”
Capoken’s disappointment is “not just about race” or representation, she added, but paints a broader picture about what the industry could improve.
“Yes, we need art that reflects all of our colors, not just some. But we also need to give awards to shows (and music and films and plays and musicals) that deserve them, no matter the color of the skin of their creators,” she concluded. “Is Hamilton great because Lin-Manuel Miranda is Puerto Rican? No. It’s great because it bangs. By that same token, how anyone can watch I May Destroy You and not call it a brilliant work of art or Michaela Coel a genius is beyond my capacity to understand how these decisions are made.”
On Thursday, February 4, Coel was nominated for Best Actress in a Television Movie or Limited Series for the 2021 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
