Golden Globes 2013: The meaning of the Lena Dunham – Chad Lowe reference

There were a number of interesting moments during the 2013 Golden Globes on Sunday, but one of the more interesting ones occurred near the end when Lena Dunham, who had just won the trophy for Comedy Series for the HBO hit “Girls,” decided to randomly make sure to thank Chad Lowe … an actor that she seemingly does not even really know, and has never worked with before.

Well, let’s try to put a little bit of context into this comment. Back in 2000, Hilary Swank notoriously forgot to thank her then-husband (now known for “Pretty Little Liars“) when accepting an Oscar for “Boys Don’t Cry.” It has since gone down as one of the most notorious flubs in Oscar speech history, mostly because that is right up there with the Academy as someone that you should always thank when you win something.

The truth is, this was planned for Lena long in advance, as she had promised both herself and her mother that if she ever got a chance to win a major award, she would be sure to thank him. This is something that Lowe obviously knew about beforehand, as he posted a message on Twitter after she won her first award for Best Actress that she, too, forgot to mention him:

“Congrats to @lenadunham on your Golden Globe win. But, seriously? You forget to thank me?! After all we’ve been through? I’m shocked.”

After Lena thanked him the second time she was on stage, Lowe posted another message to Lena saying “you complete me.” How sweet, and what a strange way to end what was ultimately a somewhat-surprising awards show that at least did a better job than the Emmys or the SAG Awards nominations.

In case you’ve missed the “Girls” premiere tonight to watch the awards, you can read about it over at the link here.

Photo: NBC