It is hard for any of us not in the entertainment world to take this seriously, despite the column inches in our newspapers. But this year’s event on 7 January was different. Nearly all the women wore black (yes, still designer and still often revealing), which emphasised their solidarity and seriousness; men and women made comments about gender equality, whether in terms of pay or distribution of awards and Oprah Winfrey made a speech which some say marks her out as a potential presidential candidate.