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Why the World Owes the WGA a Thank You For (Potentially) Eradicating the Awards Shows
Here's the what's up from yesterday's WGA strike meeting which was attended by a smaller smattering of writers than the smattering of writers who attended our last strike meeting.
The bad news: the strike is not over. The good news: the WGA will not grant waivers to either the Golden Globe awards or the Oscar telecast! That means there would be no writers to write the programs, and a bunch of stars who would likely honor the picket lines and forgo the shows. So, there is a real good chance there will be few if any televised awards next year.
If nothing else comes out of this god awfully mismanaged strike -- and the smart money, meaning my money, says nothing will -- it will have all been worth the marching in tight little circles outside of studio lots if even for just one season we can rid the airwaves of the endless, meaningless Hollywood awards shows.
There are any number of very hard working people in Hollywood who deserve recognition. Mostly its the artisans and crafts persons -- the "below the line" workers -- whose only reward is to be pejoratively labeled "below the line" workers. I say get them all on the next thing smoking to Vegas for an all expense paid weekend of whatever.
Beyond that, true recognition of hard work has as much do to with awards shows as Christ does with the modern consumerized concept of Christmas. That is, unless the Three Wise Men were somehow behind the phrase: "90 days with no payments."
Fact is, awards shows were never really about recognizing achievement. They were a publicity ploy cooked up in the late 1920s by MGM topper Louie Mayer and his newly formed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which was itself, back in the day, nothing but a front organization to discourage unionizing.
In the decades since, the Oscars in particular and awards shows in general, have metastasized into personality cults nexused around red carpet arrivals: big stars wearing designer clothes they were given for free 'cause God knows it's hard to shop well when you're only earning tens of millions of dollars a picture. Awards shows have devolved into self-parodies -- liberals in limos, corny insider jokes delivered by the hosts among bad teleprompter reading from the some of the best thespians on the planet. It's gushing, teary acceptances speech, sometimes peppered with a variety of politics broken up by the lamest production numbers three hours running time will allow. It's some of the most beautiful, most admired people alive who seem desperate to finally get that hug they were denied back when they were seven. In the immortal words of Sally Fields: "you like me, right now, you like me." Eve Harrington could not have said it more tragically.
So, for one season at least, let's end the cycle of self-indulgence and the fawning and the jillion "for your consideration" ads for movies that barely deserve consideration on Netflix. Let's reduce our both our carbon footprint and our ego emission and NOT gather before the limelight to self-congratulate. Instead, like the rest of America, let's be quietly satisfied with a good year's work.
Read more strike coverage on the Huffington Post's writers' strike page.
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Anything that spares us the sight and sound of that raddled old hag Joan Rivers is welcome.
That's fine with me. The shows are stupid anyway and often pre empt something I actually like. And the longer this strike goes on, the more people are bound to realize they don't need TV that much anyway, and learn to entertain themselves in other ways.
There are, indeed, awards for performances on award shows. The emmys are loaded with nominees from award shows like the oscars and the grammys.
The way some pundits devote so much precious time to this nonsense, is amazing! And all the space given to awards on the news, in the newspapers and magazines, even as we american citizens are in danger of losing our freedoms!
I've read that some oscar voters give their ballots to the help, and tell them to fill it out and mail it.
And how are those people with soft, bony hands, and who live in mansions, able to judge performances about hard-working country folk?
They can't relate; just as they can't relate to some ethnic groups.
Aesop would be highly amused by the labels of "A-list" and "B-list", I'm thinkin'!
The bad news is we're deprived of Stewart, Colbert, and Maher and subject to even more inane reality shows.
Most of Televison is "pure crap." You have an on and off button!!
You make a great point about the awards shows -- especially the bought and paid for Golden Globes, but it would be nice if you would stop pissing on the Guild and offer instead your wisdom about how to better manage the negotiations -- in view of the bosses' walk-out. Better yet, how to get the talks started again with bosses intent in not bargaining in good faith. in the meantime, have a happy, happy, baby.
That's fine, but on the other hand, who watches those shows? I've never seen one, would never waste a minute on one. The point is, you don't have to watch them.
On the other hand, there's no way to escape from Britney Spears and her antics, short of becoming a hermit. Now if we could just get rid of all that celebrity crap, we'd really be making progress.
May I disagree?
I hope there are more of these masturbational award shows. And to get ready for them we should all make lists of things we would like to do if we where not wasting our time watching TV.
Like:
Read anything by Mark Twain.
Talk to a friend about anything but TV
Go outside and look at the stars
Make love
Any questions?
Any answers?
john, i'm nowhere near your biggest fan but on this? you're Dead On
those awards shows are pure, unadulterated crap. the thing is, and i didn't know this - they actually pay people to write that dreck?
somebody ought to be askin' for their money back
Every industry gives awards. Are they all self-indulgent, self-congratulatory farces? Maybe. But they keep happening because people want recognition and the career boost these awards give them.
As to the entertainment field, I, too, am sick of how many awards shows are telecast. It takes away their specialness and leads to the kind of fatigue that the above comments reflect.
That said, I absolutely love the fashions!!!!! I'd be happy if they just telecast the red carpet for 3 hours and then went home.
We owe a vote of thanks to the writers, for going on strike and getting some of the senseless dribble off tv. The commercials are still there tho, Are the writers secretly doing commercials,? When we have the "worlds worse commercials" Geico,and some other companys have made us purchase a Tivo, or other machine that we can fast forward thru the commercials. 5 minutes of commercials every 6 minutes? What genius thought this shit up? Writers are going to be on strike until they go broke,
I was happy to hear about the WGA not granting waivers! Good for you all!!!!!
It will be an amazing site to see the 'A-list' movie and television stars joining the picket lines come award night! That would be totally fabulous. Hopefully, you will all present a united front so that the evil-doers will come to their senses. They are NOTHING without the writers.
AMEN TO THAT!
are you implying there are people who actually watch these 'award' shows?....by the way; i miss you on the 'scarborough ' show on msnbc......i am really getting tired of sanctimonious joe..........he is a bore..joe really needs you to pull him out of his adoration of the hucklberry-hound candidate....were it not for 'mika'{?} the morning show would be a total loss...hurry back, PLEASEEEEE!
Is there anything worse on television than these people patting themselves on the back and accepting awards for their overpaid, over exposed existence? Yes, sports award shows and Fox News......
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