They said it would never happen again! They mocked the very idea of it at the 2011 Emmy’s! We feared that once again, an awards show generally known as a light hearted affair (due to copious amounts of wine being consumed), would turn into yet another Hollywood circle jerk self ego boosting ceremony where multi-million dollar celebrities talk about how awesome they are without so much as a hint of self-awareness! And yet, it’s being reported that the brilliant British comedian, Ricky Gervais who absolutely slayed at last year’s Golden Globes has been asked to return for another round of ripping on entitled celebrities and off-color humor that made last year’s show so entertaining.
Award shows are ultimately pretty pointless and the only way people are going to tune in is if they skew more towards the format of a quasi-roast than the serious ceremonies that have been presented to us over the years. Look at the recent VMAs. MTV makes an extraordinarily failed attempt to recapture any sort of relevance in the music world and no one’s around to mock the absurdity of it all. That’s what made Ricky Gervais’ hosting job so great at the Golden Globes. Given the reaction to a lot of his material last year, one gets the sense that Hollywood celebrities are decently sheltered from people who would mock them in person which explained the reactions of various celebs after Gervais landed punch line after punch line that, while maybe not what those actors wanted to hear about themselves, were absolutely hilarious.
The profession of acting is indeed a serious one. It’s easy to fake but it’s damn hard to get really good at it and it does and should command respect. Hollywood culture and the public lives/career moves of some celebrities however, are decidedly funny and shouldn’t be above mockery. As of right now, it’s not even 100% confirmed if Gervais will take the job of MC’ing the event but I sure hope he does. If you’re going to nationally broadcast a ceremony that amounts to little more than a self-congratulatory gathering of millionaires during a time where the majority of us are struggling day to day, at least give us the opportunity to point and laugh at it.
| Sunday, January 15, 2012 | Presentation of “The 69th Annual Golden Globe® Awards” |