“Hidden Fences” trends after Golden Globes flubs
“Hidden Fences” started trending on the night of the 2017 Golden Globes -- but don’t make the same mistake as Jenna Bush Hager and Michael Keaton, because it’s not actually the name of any movie.
Hager and Keaton conflated the names of films “Fences” and “Hidden Figures” on Globes night, setting off a social media firestorm.
Hager made the error first when she talked to Pharrell Williams on the red carpet and called “Hidden Figures,” the movie for which Williams wrote music and produced, “Hidden Fences.” The producer and musician looked taken aback, but did not correct her. Keaton later made the same flub when he presented Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.
The hashtag #HiddenFigures quickly took off, and some Twitter users pointed out that no one mixed up “The Night Manager” or “The Night Of.”
The Twitterverse also exploded with parody mash-ups up movies starring black actors.
The mistakes were especially cringeworthy because both of the nominated movies star some of Hollywood’s most famous black actors and explore race issues in America.
“Fences” is about a Pittsburgh sanitation worker in the 1950s who feels he has missed his opportunity to become a professional baseball player; black athletes are only allowed into the Major Leagues when Washington’s character is past his prime. “Hidden Figures,” starring Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Octavia Spencer, tells the relatively unknown story about three black female NASA mathematicians who, during racial segregation, make it possible for John Glenn to become the first American astronaut to make a complete orbit around Earth.
The faux-pas seems more serious when considering the heavy criticism of Hollywood awards shows for excluding actors of color. Last year, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite trended for a second year after no black actors were nominated in neither 2015 nor 2016.
Adding insult to injury, in December 2015, the Golden Globes Twitter account confused America Ferrera and Gina Rodriguez, referring to nominations presenter Ferrera as Rodriguez several times.
