I need to talk my fellow critics for a
moment to state something I really think they need to understand.
An awards show – particularly ones that
deal with movies and TV but really all of them – are by design going to be
overlong, self-congratulatory, bloated affairs where everybody thanks each
other, speeches run on forever and maybe occasionally someone gets bleeped. If
the host or hostess does their job perfectly, it will be amusing sporadically.
If the presenters do their job perfectly, same thing. That's not a bug in the software, it's the
feature.
Any awards show is about the nominees, the
winners and the industry. That's all its ever been about. If you haven't
realized this by this point in your career I strongly wonder if you have the
intellectual capacity to find shows on Netflix in the first place. Or buy a
ticket to a movie. Really I'm amazed you can string words together into sentences
to bash the awards show in the first place.
I've been arguing as hard as I can the last
few years why I can't comprehend why critics are still reviewing awards shows
as if they are the movies and TV shows that are nominated. They're not these
things any more than they are live concert events. They shouldn't have to meet
these standards; they shouldn't have any standards at all. The awards show are
not movies and TV; they're for the people in the theater. They don't matter
except to those people and a smaller group of people who care about them. If
you're not part of the industry and if you haven't seen any of the movies or TV
shows (or in the case of last night's Golden Globes both) there's no reason for
you to be watching it. And for pure entertainment an award show can't match the
power of Sinners or One Battle After Another or TV shows like The
Pitt or Hacks.
Hell The Studio made it clear in no
uncertain terms when it did its episode satirizing the Golden Globes who those
awards are for and what purpose they have. Those people who watched it and expected it to
be as much as that episode or indeed the entire series have missed the point –
which is odd because they think the former is worthy of awards like the Golden
Globes to begin with.
I've made it clear for years when I
reviewed the Golden Globes or other awards show that dealt with television that
I was watching because I cared about the winners and how they
reacted. My reviews have reflected that by making it about them and that's
because at a certain level, I get that its about them. The vast majority of my
fellow critics seem to have taken the position that these awards show are about
what the audience should think
about it first and everything else is a secondary consideration.
I truly think we need to have a moratorium
on reviews of awards shows in the industry. List the winners, list what they
said in their speeches and that's it. These shows are about the industry,
not about anyone else. We go to movies and TV shows for entertainment purposes,
we watch awards shows honoring them because we care about who wins. If that's a
smaller group then the people who watch these shows in the first place, well,
that's how Hollywood is. No one should be forced to watch the Golden Globes if
they don't want to and honestly for entertainment options you'd be better
served watching the movies and TV on streaming to see what everyone's talking
about.
On a related note I'm all for puncturing
the pretentious nature of Hollywood when it comes to their positions in
anything but their industry. But there's a time and place for everything and a
ceremony designed where a certain amount of the pretension is being
acknowledged and even celebrated is not that place. As someone who's
been watching awards shows for thirty years and reviewing them for the last
decade I'd like to think I'm an authority on what an emcee should and shouldn't
do. A good emcee's job is to entertain the captive audience as well as the
audience at home (though trust me, this is one of the few times that this is deservedly
a second concern). A good emcee gently pokes the audience in the ribs as well
as celebrates them. You don't necessarily have to be a comedian to be good at
this; in recent years Anthony Anderson and Kristen Bell have more then
demonstrated the absolutely right mixture of gravitas and humor. But you need
to remember that your job is not to be an iconoclast.
That's the main reason that every time Ricky
Gervais was tapped to host the Golden Globes I approached each time with an
increasing amount of dread. My issues with Gervais, I should be clear, are the
same I have with Bill Maher. (Coincidentally the two of them were competing
against each other for Best Stand-Up Special last night. Guess who won.) I have
no problem with their politics; I just think Gervais is a horrible comedian. Even
when he was at his peak, I never laughed at him.
And to be clear well before he was tapped
to host the first time in 2010 the Golden Globes had been extremely good to
him. Both his version of The Office and his series Extras were
recognized as Best Comedy by the Golden Globes. They gave him a trophy four
full years before the Emmys did. And yet from the start every time he hosted
the show you really got the feeling he wanted to be anywhere else. (I know he
was drunk before he hosting the last time. He wasn't subtle about it.) It's as
if he thought the job was beneath him from the start and his contempt was
always clear, despite their continued nominations for far lesser shows over
this period. I was actually grateful when he stopped showing up when he was
nominated; his mere presence just made me feel uneasy.
Nikki Glaser by contrast always strikes the
right balance between admirer and roaster. She loves to make fun of the
industry and like her hostess in arms Chelsea Handler she can be incredibly
filthy minded about it but you get the feeling how lucky she feels to be
there. I got that feeling last night
when she continuously mocked George Clooney and Sean Penn from the start and
was just as willing to lampoon the people in TV. My favorite in a long list of
gags was "And Martin Short and Steve Martin who prove you're never to old
to keep needing money."
You got a sense of that gentle mockery
throughout the night. When Sean Hayes, Will Arnett and Jason Bateman (nominated
for Best Podcast) came out, Bateman was teased by the announcers. Bateman took
it personally. Hayes said: "I loved Ozark." Bateman:
"What was it about?" "It was about three seasons too long."
Hayes said. Huge laugh on my part. Dave Franco and Zoe Kravitz came out to
present Best Actor in a Comedy (I think the fix was in) and they made fun of
their Emmy nominated roles in The Studio. "I'm Zoe Kravitz and I don't need
your shrooms" "I'm Dave Franco
and I will absolutely take your shrooms." Melissa McCarty and Kathryn Hahn came out to present
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series with "And for the first time
men are nominated in this category," said Hahn. McCarthy: "It's about
time." And it was fun to see Haillee Steinfeld and Ayo Edebiri mock how we
all watch TV and films and Edebiri said that she'd seen Sinners in every
format including Tik Tok in 297 parts. "Just like the director intended,"
Steinfeld said.
I saw this behavior played out quite well
in some of the film presentations as well. And it was wonderful how when George
Clooney came out Don Cheadle came out for moral support and complete roasted
him. "Did you win?" Cheadle asked. "No, I didn't."
"Been a while. How old are you Chalamet?" "Thirty" the
actor said. "He was three the last time you won." Cheadle pointed
out. "I've won after Syriana!" Clooney said.
These nights are where no one takes
themselves too seriously and I respect the Golden Globes for not doing that.
Now on to the awards. To be clear most of
the prizes ended up going as I predicted and in a sense mirrored to the Critics
Choice Awards. But the difference were there and I respected them.
When Owen Cooper won for his work in Adolescence
he told us about when he had tried out for drama class and he was the only
boy which very well might have prepared him for this. Erin Doherty, in the
midst of her usual thank yous to everybody, went out of her way to give a
special thank you to therapists and the important work they do – and honestly it's
hard to argue that point. Stephen Graham this time went out of his way to
respect Christine Tremarco, his scene partner on Adolescence. "I'll
cut in half, and you can have the top." And the showrunner argued that the
series was not about the horrible way of society today but the detritus his
generation he and his generation had left behind. He pointed out his cast,
including Cooper, as examples of how there are good people out there and that
there is hope: one might find it hard to look at now but it is there. I think
we all needed that.
When Seth Rogen won for The Studio he
couldn't help note how surreal this all was. "We did a show about
this," he reminded us. "Zoe and Dave were on it. I really thought the
only way that I was ever going to win one of these was to make a show about
it." Given the nature of Rogen's long career and particularly the number
of TV series and films where he has not received recognition, it's hard to
blame him. He said it didn't make sense that he was up against Martin Short and
Steve Martin who he'd grown up watching and one day dreamed about beating them.
Immediately he took it back.
When The Studio took the prize for
Best Comedy Rogen actually went out of his way to thank all of the little
people, the crew, the best boy, the gaffer, the craft services people. As
someone who has spent his entire life upset that the creative arts awards shows
people never got the respect they did in most awards show I appreciated this;
considering Colin Farrell did the same thing when he won for The Penguin last
year, it's nice to know some of these actors do remember the little people.
Jean Smart won her third Golden Globe in
this category and was even more humble then usual. She went out of her way to
thank her entire cast and crew, including Hannah Einbinder. (She didn't thank Sal
Saperstein, no one did.)
The Drama categories also went as you might
expect. Noah Wyle continued his march towards sweeping every awards show in
sight, once again thanking John Wells, Scott Gemill, the cast and crew and the
first responders and health care professionals. Wells did the same but he added
a thank you from Debra Cahn, the producer of The Diplomat, to thank
civil servants in general. Wells' speech was more about a reminder of community
and the importance of what we do and how important storytelling is. I don't
think it can change the world, but it is important and I'm glad for that.
The only real difference from the Golden
Globes as opposed to the Critics Choice was Michelle Williams finally won an
award for her brilliant work in Dying For Sex. Unfortunately Williams
was not there to pick it up but I'm grateful she did win something.
And the high point of the show for me at
least was when Rhea Seehorn duplicated her win at the Critics Choice Awards.
One of the presenters was Queen Latifah and Seehorn said when she came out to
Hollywood she'd done a job with her and she was so nice to her. Seehorn once against
expressed enormous gratitude to her fellow nominees – and more importantly all the
women as these awards shows. She said she'd been to her share and she was
grateful for their company. As always she seemed astonished – "My stomach
is still at the table!" she said -and honestly considering just how little
recognition she got for her work in Better Call Saul I don't blame
her. No one connected with that show is
used to having their name called out at the Golden Globes. (The Critics Choice
Awards is another story, which is another reason they rule.) I suspect Seehorn
will be telling Vince Gilligan how grateful she is for taking a chance on her
for a while.
I should mention that TV got its share of
love in other categories as well. Rose Byrne, who has never gotten recognition
from any other awards show for her work in Damages or Platonic was
given a Best Actress in a Comedy prize for If I Had Legs I'd Kick You. Stellan
Skarsgard, who in the last few years TV audiences are starting to become as
familiar with as his two sons, won Best Supporting Actor for Sentimental
Value. (He said when he took on the role of being a bad father, his sons gave
him notes.) Wagner Moura, who has been a fixture on television since Narcos and
was nominated for his work in Dope Thief by the Critics Choice last week
won his first Golden Globe for The Secret Agent.
And Amy Poehler won the first ever Golden
Globe for Best Podcast. As always she was hysterically self-deprecating.
"I don't think much of awards shows, but sometimes they get it right"
said the actress who is currently 0- for 15 at the Emmys. "I'm grateful to
all my fellow podcasters, except NPR. You guys just phone it." And she
ended her speech by telling her parents that they could change to watch the
Patriots now. Humble even in victory.
Finally to that reviewer who said The
Golden Globes was struggling for identity. It has one. It's an awards show. Nothing
more, nothing less. If you wanted to watch Industry you had that option
and I don't judge the people who did anymore than those who judge me for watching
this. I knew what I was expecting, I had a good time watching it and I really
liked the winners. If you wanted more
than that…seriously, do you have the intelligence to operate a remote control?
No comments:
Post a Comment