I’ve said it time and time and time again. As an awards show, the Golden Globes cannot be considered credible. That being said, The Academy Awards can rarely be considered entertaining.
It seems as if the two shows are the Ying and Yang of movie related television. While The Oscars thrive on prestige and thought in regards to quality, The Golden Globes offer a much less credible yet much more viciously entertaining source of television. This of course can be attributed to the power of one man, Ricky Gervais. As was seen last year, Gervais completely took the movie world by storm with his offbeat, off colour sense of humor, while the Oscars failed to deliver anything beyond excessive face palming by the viewer and speculation about James Franco’s possibly suspended state of being (He was sooo high everybody!).
So being a fan of Gervais’ risky humour, I was very much looking forward to the Globes this year. After hearing about how the HFPA was going to keep him unrestrained and free, I was expecting a hell of a show from Ricky and friends. What I got however was an enormous let down.
The interesting thing to note about the Golden Globes this year is that it’s incredibly easy to pin point exactly what went so horribly wrong. The reason why the show didn’t work this year is because they tried to adapt a comedian who clearly isn’t fit for PG rated comedy to a PG rated show, by making his jokes cleaner and less risky than the real thing. Notice how all of the best jokes in the entire show were related to the male genitalia? I did. This is because we have come to expect edginess from this show, and when you dull all of the edges you are left with an unreliable and boring awards ceremony. George Clooney’s joke about Michael’s Fass-boner was exactly what The Golden Globes stand for at this point, which is why taming it doesn’t work.
When you’re seriously nominating films that you probably shouldn’t be nominating over others, you really need that entertainment value in there before people start to think that you stand for nothing more than Hollywood publicity. So by firmly stating a sense of humor or entertainment, you create a show that is partially about TV and Movies and partially about laughs. Perfect. When you try to take the same elements of last year’s show and clean it up, you’ve created something irritating and unreliable.
“But hold on! Wait a minute Erik! Ricky Gervais’ humour last year was so offensive! I was appalled by his lack of respect towards his peers!” Give me a break. If The Golden Globes really offended all that many of his peers, why did HFPA invite Ricky back? See, the thing with public figures is that they know how to separate, and deal with ridicule and joking. Most celebrities hear joking and ridicule on a daily basis (especially from online users like you) and can probably handle a few jokes every once in a while. Actually, I’m pretty sure most of them can! In a recent red carpet interview with Chloe Moretz (Hugo, Kick Ass) for Press Association she said
“I think he’s amazing…a bit controversial…he is who he is and he rocks it, you know?”
Oh believe me, many of us do know and agree. Sir Elton John is also a fan, stating in an interview with The Star
“I’ll probably get the piss taken out of me, but its fine with me. I’m British. I can take it.”
Even Elton agrees that jokes about him are just a part of the circle of life. All of the offended famous patrons are, in my very honest opinion, unable to let go of the past. All of Ricky’s jokes last year were nothing more of reflections of what has happened in the past and not a direct insult about who they are now. If you can’t laugh about the past and move on to the future, how will you ever expect to be happy? Celebrities live on a high pedestal to begin with, and a little bit of humor on a night about their glory and an accomplishment isn’t exactly out of place.
Oh, and as for the viewers. If you didn’t enjoy Ricky’s sense humor, there is a solution to your dilemma. TURN OFF YOUR FUCKING TELEVISON. Or better yet, change the channel! Complaining about your virgin ears being soiled online isn’t at all strong or productive; it’s just whiney and annoying.
But I digress. The Golden Globes this year tried to take what was a wickedly funny and crude set up, and water it down to the point of pointlessness (don’t try to think about that for two long, your brain will explode). The Academy Awards are about prestige, and The Golden Globes are about entertainment. Next year’s ceremony better be about the entertainment and firmly cement their place in the award show world. If this doesn’t happen fast, the HFPA is in big trouble. – Erik Bajzert of BAJZERTproductions
