The Daily Mail is positively gushing over Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais and his willingness to pretty much hit every star in the room directly in their soft spot. Meanwhile, back in America, the Hollywood Reporter has a host of quotes, including from some top Golden Globes execs, stating Gervais “definitely crossed a line”. That pretty much sums up how this unimportant but revealing scandal is playing out across the world: Reality v. Hollywood, and Hollywood stupidly allowing their heightened complaints and indignation to feed this fire is the dumbest of all dumb public relations moves.
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In the bubbled, hypocritical mind of some in Hollywood, the only reason Gervais crossed a line is because he went after them. Had he been as relentless in ripping apart Sarah Palin, her young children, Jesus Christ, or George W. Bush, today the comedian would be celebrated as “edgy” and “courageous” — because only in Hollywood is throwing red meat to a hard-left crowd considered “edgy” and “courageous.” But Gervais didn’t do that. Instead, he trained his satirical fire on Hollywood Power and today there’s serious talk about whether or not the comedian will be brought back to the Golden Globes next year as host.
Hrm…? Someone not being allowed to work at the Golden Globes because they ridiculed Hollywood?
Goldlisting?
The bubbled stupidity we’re seeing here is in Hollywood’s willingness to keep this story alive for a second day. It’s one thing for this community to have a thin skin, it’s completely another for them to announce it to the whole wide world. Regardless of what some stars and Golden Globes execs might think personally, if they understood how this event is playing out, publicly they would stop baring their asses. The smart gameplan would’ve been titled Common Sense: Paste on a smile, praise Gervais to show you can take a joke, and then privately make sure he never eats lunch in this town again.
Did Ricky Gervais cross the line? Not by Hollywood’s standards. Good grief, Kathy — Gonna Get that Willow Palin — Griffin is starring in the new Muppet movie.
By their own standards what Ricky Gervais did was a form of performance art. After all, we are talking about an industry that revels in the idea of pushing the boundaries of good taste and decency, that revels in the art of ridicule, shock and satirical character assassination. Except, obviously, when they find themselves on the wrong end of all that “edgy” envelope pushing.
Though privately, celebrities have always been famously thin-skinned, Hollywood wasn’t always like this, didn’t always puff themselves up with self-importance and indignation in public. Once upon a time, qualities known as “class” and “poise” trumped ego and self-righteousness. Even living legends like Frank Sinatra understood the appeal of graciously taking a satiric beating in public. Some commenters have pointed out that Don Rickles became a multi-millionaire hitting big stars directly where it hurt — and in public. Watch those famous Dean Martin roasts again. No sacred celebrity cow was ever spared.
Hollywood wasn’t always so small.