Self Congratulatory Procession
So it is awards show season again. I don't know why but I get the feeling that the "season" is getting longer and longer. Once upon a time I remember there was a bit of a big deal about the Emmys (I have no idea if I'm spelling that right) in the fall and then in the spring their would be the Oscars. While hypothetically people new that music awards existed its not like anyone would televise the event. (I could be totally wrong there and the grammys where always huge I'm just saying this is my perception of times gone by).
This is the time of year the people at Entertainment tonight the E! Channel and Access Hollywood just drool over. (I'm sure there are more) They transmogrify from pretty faces who tell us about which stars are seeing each other into super entertainment journalists. They know not only the stars but the directors producers and which performances are generating "award buzz." Local news stations get clips of these "reporters" doing celebrity interviews or standing in front of some theater or auditorium talking about award show preparation, security, signs from above.
Personally I think most of the stars and producers are pretty well rewarded from the outset. They are given cash hand over fist. Not,"Hey I won a couple thousand on a game show money," but "My great great great great grandchildren shall never want for anything money." Super fat cash that only people in Hollywood can somehow burn through faster than any other group of people (Though the political pork barrels do come to mind but that's tax payer money and not quite the same thing). I'm not saying that these people shouldn't be paid as much as they are or that they ought not to spend it quite so frivolously (they earned it they can light it all on fire for all I care) I'm just saying they are well rewarded even before the award shows come into play.
The idea of watching an acceptance speech is rather unappealing too. I've seen the late night talk shows. A lot of these people can barely make it through an interview where they are being spoon fed questions without showing just how incredibly ignorant or stupid (or both) they really are. A forty second window to America and is almost too much for the their ego soaked minds to handle. They can and must grasp that opportunity by the horns and throttle it until every last shred of dignity is gone.
I find the music awards particularly amusing. The music academy must be filled with egalitarian idealists because almost every conceivable form of music has an award and if something new comes out you can bet your bottom dollar (nice little Annie musical reference eh?) that a new award will come out tomorrow. Motorhead is still getting grammys. He can probably kick out a new heavy metal album every year until he kicks off from an aneurysm from screaming into the mic and still get the award every year. That is unless some other ten or twenty year old band decides to come out of retirement and put on the old leathers and big hair and try to have a heart attack making the real hard rock and roll like back in the day.
I don't watch the shows. I don't watch the red carpet pre show show. I rarely read about who won what awards the day after. Seeing little ward stickers on the DVD or CD on the rack really doesn't affect my purchasing decisions. I reward talent with my purchases not hype and hoopla. I wouldn't mind going to one of those shows just for the gift bag. The stars get loaded up with a fortune in prizes and I bet I could eBay that stuff and pay off most of my student loans and wouldn't that be sweet.
I was aghast the other day when Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times suggested that there should be a special show just to announce the Oscar nominees. He is appalled that the Academy people just trot out a list and read it off in a span of minutes. When will this madness end.
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This is the time of year the people at Entertainment tonight the E! Channel and Access Hollywood just drool over. (I'm sure there are more) They transmogrify from pretty faces who tell us about which stars are seeing each other into super entertainment journalists. They know not only the stars but the directors producers and which performances are generating "award buzz." Local news stations get clips of these "reporters" doing celebrity interviews or standing in front of some theater or auditorium talking about award show preparation, security, signs from above.
Personally I think most of the stars and producers are pretty well rewarded from the outset. They are given cash hand over fist. Not,"Hey I won a couple thousand on a game show money," but "My great great great great grandchildren shall never want for anything money." Super fat cash that only people in Hollywood can somehow burn through faster than any other group of people (Though the political pork barrels do come to mind but that's tax payer money and not quite the same thing). I'm not saying that these people shouldn't be paid as much as they are or that they ought not to spend it quite so frivolously (they earned it they can light it all on fire for all I care) I'm just saying they are well rewarded even before the award shows come into play.
The idea of watching an acceptance speech is rather unappealing too. I've seen the late night talk shows. A lot of these people can barely make it through an interview where they are being spoon fed questions without showing just how incredibly ignorant or stupid (or both) they really are. A forty second window to America and is almost too much for the their ego soaked minds to handle. They can and must grasp that opportunity by the horns and throttle it until every last shred of dignity is gone.
I find the music awards particularly amusing. The music academy must be filled with egalitarian idealists because almost every conceivable form of music has an award and if something new comes out you can bet your bottom dollar (nice little Annie musical reference eh?) that a new award will come out tomorrow. Motorhead is still getting grammys. He can probably kick out a new heavy metal album every year until he kicks off from an aneurysm from screaming into the mic and still get the award every year. That is unless some other ten or twenty year old band decides to come out of retirement and put on the old leathers and big hair and try to have a heart attack making the real hard rock and roll like back in the day.
I don't watch the shows. I don't watch the red carpet pre show show. I rarely read about who won what awards the day after. Seeing little ward stickers on the DVD or CD on the rack really doesn't affect my purchasing decisions. I reward talent with my purchases not hype and hoopla. I wouldn't mind going to one of those shows just for the gift bag. The stars get loaded up with a fortune in prizes and I bet I could eBay that stuff and pay off most of my student loans and wouldn't that be sweet.
I was aghast the other day when Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times suggested that there should be a special show just to announce the Oscar nominees. He is appalled that the Academy people just trot out a list and read it off in a span of minutes. When will this madness end.
More Laters
posted by Rich Rosenthal II at 4:41 AM
2 Comments:
Remember... Battle of the Network Stars?
Ahhh... those were the days.
Oh the viewers are out there and they generate even more attention with the 2 month build up of advertisng on the networks.
Battle of the Network Stars eh. Think of what reality tv would do now. It would be like jerry springer wrestlemania and maybe a little fear factor enhanced breasts thrown in. Mud wrestling! This has possibilities I tell you.
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