The People’s Golden Globes

Jake GammonHead of Omnibus, US
January 13, 2014, 7:14 PM GMT+0

Americans may have turned up in droves to see the films that won Golden Globes last night, but if they had their way the list of top winners would have looked very different.

The 71st Golden Globe Awards took place this Sunday, honoring the best in film and American television. Winners of Golden Globes are determined by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), but this year we wondered, who would the public chose for their winners? In order to determine this, we added the top grossing films relevant in each category with those nominated by the body. We then asked a nationally representative body which they would choose as winners, or if there was another contender they thought more worthy.

The results below are rebased to remove those who answered that they did not know.

Best performance by an actress in a motion picture

Popular choice: Sandra Bullock, Gravity

Golden Globe winner: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

2013 saw some strong performances from leading ladies – from the steely eye of Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man 3 to the moving yet humorous approach taken by Judi Dench in Philomena.

In total, half of those selecting a best actress for the year agreed with the HFPA members and selected from a movie nominated in the Golden Globes shortlist. This includes the nation’s overall favorite – Sandra Bullock’s out of this world performance in Gravity (27%).

In this instance, the body were not in line with the viewing public and the actual award went to Cate Blanchett’s stunning performance in Blue Jasmine – chosen by just three per cent of the public.

The public’s second placed choice, Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games (24%) was not nominated by the body for best actress but did walk away from the evening with best supporting actress for her role in American Hustle.

Which of the following would you say was the best performance by an actress in a motion picture of 2013?

Green stars indicate those nominated for a Golden Globe, red the remaining highest grossing films.
Base: 1,313 US adults nominating an actress (from a survey of 2,253 nationally representative adults)

Best performance by an actor in a motion picture

Popular choice: Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips

Golden Globe winner: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

The popular choice for a leading man was a lot closer than that of a leading lady, with Tom Hanks’ heroic performance in Captain Phillips gaining the largest proportion of popular votes (22%), followed by Vin Diesel (13%), Chiwetal Ejifar (13%) and Robert Downey Jr (13%).

There was a large gender divide in choices for best actor among the public. While Tom Hanks topped the list for both, he was more popular among men (22%) than women (18%). Conversely, women were far more likely than men to nominate muscular action man Vin Diesel (17% compared with 9% of men).

The actual winner of the award – Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club received only one in twelve (8%) public votes – actually quite a high proportion seeing as it fell 118th in the list of top grossing films for the year and was only shown in 734 theatres nationwide (compared with the 4,349 theatres showing the most watched picture – The Avengers).

Which of the following would you say was the best performance by an actor in a motion picture of 2013?

Green stars indicate those nominated for a Golden Globe, red the remaining highest grossing films.
Base: 1,334 US adults nominating an actor (from a survey of 2,253 nationally representative adults)

Best director of a motion picture

Popular choice: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave

Golden Globe winner: Alfonso Cuaròn, Gravity

The popular votes are a lot closer to the HFPA nominations here, with the public’s top two being movies on the nominee list at very similar proportions. While the overall public choice was Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave (17%), winner Alfonso Cuaròn came a close second for Gravity (16%).

Those aged 55 or over were more likely to favor the nominated directors, with one in five (20%) choosing Steve McQueen, a similar proportion (19%) Alfonso Cuaròn, and five per cent Alexander Payne for Nebraska (nominated by just two per cent of those aged 18-34).

Which of the following would you say was the best director of a motion picture of 2013?

Green stars indicate those nominated for a Golden Globe, red the remaining highest grossing films.
Base: 1,333 US adults nominating a director (from a survey of 2,253 nationally representative adults)

Best motion picture

Popular choice: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Golden Globe winner: 12 Years a Slave

Arguably the most anticipated award of them all – best picture. Here again, we have the popular choice being of the largest grossing film of the year, with Hunger Games: Catching Fire at 16 per cent of the vote. The actual winner, the moving 12 Years a Slave coming in second at 13 per cent.

A large proportion (13%) of those giving an answer for best motion picture chose a movie that wasn’t either shortlisted by the HFPA or in the next top 5 grossing films. While the other answers given here were much higher than other categories, the responses within them were disparate. The body may have missed some popularly interesting pictures in their nominations, however, including, but not limited to: The Butler; Saving Mr. Banks, Pacific Rim and American Hustle.

Which of the following would you say was the best motion picture of 2013?

Green stars indicate those nominated for a Golden Globe, red the remaining highest grossing films.
Base: 1,420 US adults nominating a director (from a survey of 2,253 nationally representative adults)

Full poll results can be found here.

Image: Getty Images

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