Golden Globes and Demi Gods

I love movies. I really do. I could sit all day and night and watch movies. Not that I actually would, mind you; my wife would kill me.

Movies are a panacea to most of my life's worries. Whenever I feel the blues, I push play on my DVD player and watch Rushmore or Gladiator, for example, and all is well. There are even a few TV shows that can fall into that category: Arrested Development or Battlestar Galactica, for example.

I get excited about good writing and filmmaking and it was with this excitement that I sat to watch the Golden Globes last night. Normally, I skip the whole red carpet crap and watch the actual show only. Last night, however, I broke routine and watched the pre-show, and I swear by the time the actual show started, i was so annoyed that I nearly threw a shoe at my TV.

It's not the format of the pre-show, per se. It was your standard run of the mill production. And it's not the fashion: Eva Mendes and Demi Moore looked hot as ever, although I don't know why everyone was in cream colors; did the rest of us not get the memo?

It's just that when the actors open their mouths that I cringe and curl into a ball, as if I've just heard French manicured fingernails slide down a chalkboard (I don't know if chalkboards still exist, and this analogy may be moribund, if not totally obsolete already).

Actors are simply not important. I'm sorry, they're not. It's usually only in films that they have relevance. Otherwise, they're often complete morons. They should keep their mouths shut unless a writer is in the driver's seat of their lips.

I mean, is it just me? I tried to continue watching with as much equanimity as I could muster; honest I did. But every single word from Colin or Miley or Robert's mouth just cut into my composure like a tank shell on a Japanese paper wall.

I am amazed that we worship them like we do.

They are merely vessels, people. They are the body to the writer's soul. With a few magnanimous exceptions, they rarely have anything interesting to say, and they rarely count for anything in the world other than quintessential examples of excess and pretentiousness.

It's shameful that they are the demigods we spend so much time reading about and watching when there are so many more noble things we can spend the precious few moments we are alive on.

But how about that Demi? How is she still so hot?!

P.S. I acknowledge the exceptions: people like Jolie and Penn, for example.

Comments

[wilshire]

Good actors are very intelligent., don't kid yourself - losing oneself to take on a different persona is incredibly difficult. Miley Cyrus is not an actor, she is a teenaged singer, and many of the young people are just come-ons for the industry. Will they make it? Another DeNiro, Hanks, Norton, Pacino, Ledger? probably never. But they make many dollars for the studios.

Hey, I like the clothes and the excitement around my neighborhood in LA at award time.. call me crazy.

[avocats]

In fairness, the actors are usually asked incredibly stupid questions--like, ohmigod, Blake Lively just broke up with her boyfriend--what do you think about that? (Other than mumbling "who," the actor is left trying to respond.) This year the dumb questions were (1) how do you feel about Heath Ledger being dead" (well, awesome, dude! 'cause he was competition?) and (2) who are you most excited to see here tonight? Oh, and th eold standard, How does it feel to be nominated?

I miss them being asked Who are you wearing? That at least got quick and cogent replies . . . but I did not miss the Riverses.

[aristeia]

For me, it's much less the actors (although with some of them I'd wholeheartedly agree with you)-- but the morons doing the interviews. They ask the most cringe-worthy, awkward and boring questions. I think the "how do you feel about Heath Ledger being dead and up for an award" question irks me the most.

[LMPE]

You wanted to throw a shoe at the TV? Save it for Bush.

[Promise]

There are intelligent actors and dumb ones, just as in all fields, yours included. I think that the more intelligent the person is, the better actor he is. Off the top of my head, here are some highly intelligent actors : Alec Guiness, John Gielgud, Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, (yes, he acts as well as directs), Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Tommy Lee Jones, Johnny Depp, Kate Winslett, Cate Blanchett, Leonardo Dicaprio, Sean Penn, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Laura Linney, Kevin Bacon, Emma Thompson, Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Kevin Kline, Daniel Day Lewis, Charlie Chaplin, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Julie Harris, Barbara Harris. Rip Torn, Sam Shephard, Paul Newman, Joann Woodword, Robert Redford.................. just to name a few!

[devadasi]

I couldn't agree with you more. It always boggles my mind when I see actors being interviewed on TV...it's usually worthless and most of them should just keep their mouths shut and act. I honestly have no interest in their personal lives, and if you live a full and rich life you're not going to be interested in what an actor says or their personal lives. Many of them are certainly over paid which adds to their demi-god status. It's a sad commentary on the age we're living in.

[Skylarstar]

Why should we expect anything better from them. Just because they can act doesn't mean they have anything worthwhile to say. Celebrities are an interesting diversion sort of like playing with dolls when I was a little girl.

[Melissa]

I can't stand to watch the award shows. I don't want to hear anything these people have to say, especially politics. Some of the actors are brilliant, and that is all I want from them. A great performance and none of their opinions.

[Truye]

No. It's not just you. I am an actor (currently in school) and I can't STAND the red carpet shows. I hate the excess (all those diamonds as people are starving). I hate the insipid questions. And I really hate hearing actors answering like this is something serious and important (the insipid questions). I feel like a part of my soul dies when I watch pre-shows, which is why I have never done it unless I was at someone else's house (however I did leave the room once until it was over because it was way too depressing for me).

The one thing you got wrong was an actor's function. It's really the function of the actor to realize the director's vision. We ARE just vessels. Some are just more empty than others.

[wildflowermaven]

And Alec Baldwin--he totally took control of his red carpet interview away from Ryan Seacrest--thank goodness.