Golden (Globes) Slumbers

I caught a little bit of the Golden Globes last night. Wow. The prestige of the Oscars with the heart of the Blockbuster Movie Awards.

We're in the middle of what is called "award season" because it seems there's an award show every couple of weeks or so. And each award show tries to be more glamorous than the last. But when you boil it down, all award shows on this level have one thing in common: stroking egos. Actors and actresses make their livings off pretending to be other people. Some, like George Clooney, take this fact in stride and stay grounded. Most, unfortunately, let their celebrity go to their heads. When that happens, everything revolves around feeding the ego monster.

A prime example of this is the Oscars. Back in the day, the Acadamy Awards were a big deal, but they were covered with a sense of perspective. The coverage was balanced between recognizing the honored and ensuring it didn't overwhelm and become elevated to the level of serious news.

Today? We get stories about the Oscars a week or two prior to the event, about who's wearing what, who's throwing after parties, how "local folks" celebrate the Oscars, how to throw an Oscar party, and so on. Then, there's the hours of pre-Oscar coverage where interviewers talk to celebrities and ask such burning questions as "Who are you wearing?" Then, after the event, we get a couple of days talking about who won, encouraging people to go out to see the Oscar winners, and how much fun the after parties were. And let's not overlook the advertising before and after the Oscars for the films nominated for various awards.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the Golden Raspberries, or the Razzies as they're called. They celebrate the worst performances on film and they actually have a ceremony around the time of the Oscars. They don't go to extremes to hype it because of the novelty of the concept, and media types just gobble it up year after year. They do it right.

Maybe the Oscars could pick up a thing or two from the Razzies.