C’MON HOLLYWOOD: Award Show drama is getting out of control!

…Award Show drama is getting out of control!
by J.A. Hamilton

I’ve never really understood the crazy fascination with Award Shows and how overly dramatic they seem to get. I applaud the idea of rewarding actors, actresses, writers, producers and directors with praise, party and drink (as after all that’s what these shows are; one big party) and an excuse to get all dressed up, mingle with your peers and be seen. I say bring it on and let the good times roll, but year after year there are more than a few bad apples that go out of their way to make complete asses of themselves, embarrassing them, their hosts and everyone in attendance. I’m not naive enough to think nothing is said to them, but I think we need to tighten the reigns a bit.

He totally should’ve backhanded her with that statue.

First and foremost I think those in attendance need to calm down, take a deep breath and come to terms with one of the biggest facts of all: it’s just an award, a useless statue in most cases that’ll end up in a corner with a thick layer of dust on it. That said, it’s an honour to be acknowledged for greatness but at the end of the day in this business (especially when it comes to actors and actresses) those awards don’t mean much as far as their careers are concerned. I’ve never heard someone say, “Hell yeah, let’s go see THAT movie because THAT actor or actress has three Oscars under his or her belt.” Now I’m sure there are exceptions to that rule when it comes to casting, especially when it comes to dramatic roles but again, I don’t think having awards is as do or die as some might think.

“Turn off that damn music, I’m not finished yet!”

Now speaking of acting out in the spotlight, I’ve seen more than a few incidents and speeches that made me cringe (Sally Field gave an over-the-top Emmy speech back in 2007 that started to push the envelope a little too far by the end and she’s far from the only one) , but what I miss are the days when the worst thing we had to worry about was people being a little too high or drunk (Chris Farley had a couple of those moments but I thought they were hilarious). You can’t go wrong with humour in theory, but then again, Ben Stiller’s whole AVATAR/Navi speech was just as horrible as his Joaquin Phoenix speech. Sacha Baron Cohen was supposed to take part in the Navi skit but thank God he pulled out of it.

“Dammit bitch, I said gimme that microphone!”

Now as far as jokes or speeches (in poor taste or otherwise) go, that’s one end of things but what makes matters worse are when people try to outright screw, embarrass or attack people. The Kanye thing doesn’t directly apply here, but it’s become a precedent (not the oldest one but the most recent) used to depict this unruly behaviour. The AVATAR/HURT LOCKER debacle quickly got out of hand with unsavoury comments and even attempts to sabotage the voting ballets. And after Kanye, you’d think they’d be able to maintain proper control over people just randomly jumping up on stage and throwing their two cents into other people’s speeches but I guess not.

“Umm, why aren’t any of you laughing?”

My favourite Award Shows are still the MTV Movie Awards and of the course The Scream Awards. The first one always makes me laugh, and call me crazy but I’ll take humour over drama any day of the week and I’m always up for seeing Horror get its due. I’m not saying I agree with all the decisions and votes that take place at Award Shows, that’s another story, but what I’d like to see is proper control here. Outbursts like those mentioned and not mentioned should be met with strict discipline if for no other reason than to let everyone involved breathe a sigh of relief instead of being on edge all night wondering when the shit will hit the fan. There will always be bad apples, and some drama can’t be helped, but stricter rules are certainly in order.