Thank God Ricky Gervais Really Doesn’t Care Anymore
[guest post by Dana]
Last night’s Golden Globe Awards show opened with a caustic bang as British comedian Ricky Gervais delivered a take-no-prisoners monologue that sliced and diced Hollywood’s elite, proving that, as he repeatedly proclaimed, he really doesn’t care anymore:
Here's @RickyGervais' full opening speech at the #GoldenGlobes
Absolutely savage. pic.twitter.com/xxk3LgQou3
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) January 6, 2020
Sparing no one, Gervais took particular aim at Hollywood’s sanctimonious compulsion to lecture others on how they should live in spite of their own rank hypocrisy, and summed up his take with this beautifully aimed barb:
So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.
Cue the outraged response. Los Angeles Times media critic Lorraine Ali was dismayed by the comedian’s failure to recognize the “sober mood” of the evening:
The #GoldenGlobes mood was already sober thanks to an impeachment, threat of war with Iran and Australian bush fires. The last thing anyone needed was Ricky Gervais there, telling them they sucked. https://t.co/58PAMOikhu
— Lorraine Ali (@LorraineAli) January 6, 2020
What, your sober moods aren’t punctuated by sipping fine champagne and partying with the elite while wearing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of designer couture and waving to fans as you strut down a red carpet before dining on chilled golden beet soup and king oyster mushrooms made to look like scallops, as you laugh and joke with your equally-precious colleagues??
Further validating Gervais’s correct take on the insular, self-important community of Hollywood and its collective lack of self-awareness, Ali writes :
The last thing anyone needed was for the smirking master of ceremonies to reprimand them for having hope, or taunt the room for trying to use their influence to change things for the better.
Suffice it to say that it’s not surprising that a media critic would be unwilling to be an equal-opportunity critic, and would rather avert her own haughty eyes to that which is painfully obvious: Gervais wasn’t taunting the audience for having “hope”. He was taunting them for their smug hypocrisy, hectoring, and self-aggrandizement. Her response clearly demonstrates the need for a public figure who truly doesn’t care and is willing to be pull back the curtain, no matter the professional repercussions. Ali also assumes that the political policies that Hollywood advocates for would change things for the better, while ignoring that a huge swath of the population view those policy preferences as anything but changing things for the better. And the fact that Ali refuses to acknowledge that is yet another reason why watching Gervais publicly pull the mask off of a tone-deaf and insular community is so delicious. Yet as Gervais is cheered on by average Americans, there will no doubt be accusations that his fans are displaying little more than bitter envy at a privileged community of money, power, and position. For those who do make such accusations, all I can say is, you are only reinforcing the absolute rightness of Gervais’ commentary.
You can read the full transcript of Ricky Gervais’ opening monologue here.
(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)
–Dana
Heh.
Dana (643cd6) — 1/6/2020 @ 12:53 pmFor someone who write for a living, Ms. Ali seems to have a hard time using the correct adjective. The mood was somber, not sober
There’s an article in The Guardian that says essentially the same thing as Ali’s
Gervais must have really struck a nerve calling out Hollywood’s sanctimony.
Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71) — 1/6/2020 @ 1:00 pmRicky Gervais perpetrates comedy that is ordinarily nigh-unbearable.
That said, he happened to be right this time…
Demosthenes (83648c) — 1/6/2020 @ 1:02 pmWhether “sober” or “someber,” Chuck Bartowski, people partying in a champagne bubble sort of belies that, no?
Dana (643cd6) — 1/6/2020 @ 1:07 pmLOL In other words, let a wealthy, chubby Brit [creator of The Office BTW] lecture you on how things outta be in Hollywood USA, a la Rush Limbaugh, on national TV instead. Yet this emcee was a Corbyn man.
Back in the day my first boss in Hollywood told me in no uncertain terms, as we were ramping up for awards season, that the HFPA’s GG’s are utterly meaningless industrywide and forgettable in a day.
She was right.
“Never mind what I told you. I’m telling you!” – The Captain [James Cagney] ‘Mister Roberts’ 1955
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/6/2020 @ 1:09 pmThe first actor to get involved with politics was John Wilkes Booth. It hasn’t improved much since.
Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71) — 1/6/2020 @ 1:29 pmCheers, mate.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/6/2020 @ 1:34 pmAll part of the sanctimony, Dana.
Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71) — 1/6/2020 @ 1:47 pm“Having hope.”
Yep, that’s how they characterize looking the other way while a scum bag like Harvey Weinstein abuses young would-be actresses.
Which they all did, and which Gervais called them out on.
Bored Lawyer (998177) — 1/6/2020 @ 1:54 pmHe’s just the latest in a line of woke celebs to kick back after being told by Central Office they’d strayed into the forbidden (truth) zone.
JK Rowling is getting hammered for merely defending scientific fact after being a woke hero for years. She’s standing her ground too so far (see Bebe Neuwirth for the prostrate beg forgiveness response).
Good for RG and JKR now but they were pretty silent for years while the mob went after others.
It’s funny watching the left eat it’s own, it’s what they’ve always been best at.
harkin (d6cfee) — 1/6/2020 @ 1:58 pmJohn Boyega is another…but his American counterparts tend to be of the Denzel Washington/Dwayne Wasington/Tiger Woods/MJ
urbanleftbehind (70c514) — 1/6/2020 @ 2:09 pm(and Bill Cosby) ilk that check all the Right’s right boxes unless a black dude is running in the contest (Obama, Gillum).
Dwayne The Rock Johnson, pardon. If you smelllllaoo…
urbanleftbehind (70c514) — 1/6/2020 @ 2:10 pmIf Trump can pack stadiums telling his jokes….
mg (8cbc69) — 1/6/2020 @ 2:13 pm@9. Please. Gervais did, too. He’s a complete hypocrite as well. If he ever was invited to the party on Weinstein’s yacht during the Cannes Film Festival–the hottest and hardest invite to get BTW- to make contacts or just get projects financed, he went– and he damn well knew what debauchery went on above and below decks there.
Just as everyone in town knew Hudson was gay– and everyone outside of town didn’t, everybody– and I mean everybody in Hollywood knew the score with Weinstein and Miramax over the years. Problem was, Miramax made/backed/distributed a lot films in the 80s/90s into the 00s and put a lot of $ in the pockets of everybody above and below the line in those years. Made a lot of careers viable, too. A way back in the day– the first two tales shared amongst colleagues in Hollywood was: 1., never send a female rep over to Weinstein’s offices alone unless she knew what she may be walking into. And 2., straight guys alone should avoid a certain local watering hole frequented by Kevin Spacey as you may just get hit on. Ricky may talk about lazy film making but the point is to make money with them– and they do; making sport of what everyone in town has known about for decades is really what’s lazy-azzed, especially by believing his shock shtick passes for comedy. Didn’t mourn Imus; won’t mourn Gervais.
Put down the drink and hit the salad bar instead, Ricky.
Eat a salad, Ricky.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/6/2020 @ 3:00 pmIt’s good, very good, but you have to listen to it on the video. It’s Gervais’s delivery that makes it funny. Just reading it, you miss the whole tone of it and it becomes just some snide snippets.
nk (dbc370) — 1/6/2020 @ 4:42 pm@15. No, he’s just a hypocritical.
Biting the hands that feeds you isn’t very bright. Move over, Mel Gibson, you’ve got a ride share partner now. See how long he’s on the beach before anybody in Tinseltown finances one of his projects again.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/6/2020 @ 4:48 pmNk…agreed. Gervais’ flat delivery – eschewing the lilt-up in anticipation of a Drum roll (no ba-doom-tish)- is the real killer.
urbanleftbehind (70c514) — 1/6/2020 @ 4:55 pmThe low ratings are the final word.
Back to Britain and streaming TeeVee, chub-o-gut.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/6/2020 @ 5:33 pmHuge amounts of comical material to use on the democrats, if one has the nuts.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/6/2020 @ 5:57 pmAs in Tim Allen.
Yes, Hollywood enables really suck characters, doesn’t it.
Exhibit A: Ronald Reagan.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/6/2020 @ 6:03 pm@19. Tim Allen?
Arrested and sentenced to prison- nearly 3 years- for drug trafficking cocaine.
Did more time than Felicity Huffman– or Richard Nixon.
Hilarious!!!!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/6/2020 @ 6:10 pmSnitch Judas! I didn’t know that about him.
nk (dbc370) — 1/6/2020 @ 6:18 pm@22. Now you do. Ratted on his pals for a reduced sentence, too.
Character counts. 😉
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/6/2020 @ 6:22 pmRicky Gervais
@rickygervais
How the f**k can teasing huge corporations, and the richest, most privileged people in the world be considered right wing? 😂
__ _
Doriano Carta
@Paisano
Replying to
@rickygervais
If you say anything against the left then you are automatically a far right wing racist fascist xenophobic bigot.
__ _
Mindy Robinson 🇺🇸
@iheartmindy
Because you teased the ”leftist” privileged elite and the companies that support them. They don’t like their own raging hypocrisy rubbed in their face so now they must vilify you the only way they know how.
Welcome to the club. 👌🏻
harkin (d6cfee) — 1/6/2020 @ 6:24 pmWell, Piers Morgan was impressed.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7857415/PIERS-MORGAN-Ricky-Gervais-delivered-glorious-kick-Hollywoods-virtue-signalling-hypocrites.html
But not everyone was happy.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7855233/Ricky-Gervais-eviscerates-woke-Hollywood-opening-speech-Golden-Globes.html
Scroll down on the second like, and you’ll see why I don’t watch awards shows anymore. Hollywood has lost all sense of glamour. Camille Paglia, after watching the red carpet walk at the Oscars , screams, “Don’t these women know gay men?!” Implying that female impersonators have a far better sense for fashion.
Gawain's Ghost (b25cd1) — 1/6/2020 @ 6:31 pm21 – a lot of us have contributed after doing time.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/6/2020 @ 6:48 pmHe was hilarious in Sandstone. And it was a tough crowd.
Ok, let’s see …
nk (dbc370) — 1/6/2020 @ 7:00 pmHow Camille Paglia dresses. Trust me, I picked the best photo I could find in one minute of browsing.
How Patricia Arquette dresses.
Gentlemen, cast your votes!
Netflix was expected to, but won hardly any awards.
I suppose many in the electorate didn’t like that they used a loophole for their movies to become eligible by doing something like playing for one week in a theater in Los Angeles.. They weren’t really in theaters.
Sammy Finkelman (3bf6ea) — 1/6/2020 @ 7:05 pm@26. I’ll give him Galaxy Quest.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/6/2020 @ 7:10 pmMarx said it best. It’s easy to go blue and shock w/a dirty joke. Gervais wouldn’t last 90 seconds w/Groucho. He’d leave in a huff. Or a minute and a huff.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/6/2020 @ 7:23 pm@25. Was he holding a mirror at the time? He was run out of town and across the pond, too.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/6/2020 @ 7:25 pmI pay attention to this Gervais person to the same extent I do any other Hollywood celebrity. Which is to say, I pay no attention to him or them.
Kishnevi (779a41) — 1/6/2020 @ 8:33 pmSpeaking of obnoxious people “jimmy” bakker” says if you don’t love trump you are not saved and will burn in hell! Years ago he was pushing bumper stickers saying: I found it. I put one on my car that read : I threw it away!
asset (a46d74) — 1/6/2020 @ 11:22 pmRicky forgot to mention that epstei’s girl friend/procurer according to n.y.post is hiding out in a safe house in israel as her father was in the mossad so she doesn’t have to talk about jefferys “friends” Clintons and royal family must be paying a lot of $$$!
asset (a46d74) — 1/7/2020 @ 12:04 amHe was hilarious. But if you following Boxing/MMA/Pro-Wrestling this whole “I don’t care any more” hammer and tongs approach is all part of the act. I assume the people he named checked were in on the joke. Either explicitly or implicitly.
So while i liked his act. I assume that’s all it was, an act. Which doesn’t take anything away from him. He’s supposed to do an act, play a role, and entertain us. If he was really being sincere than it almost takes something away from that.
Time123 (c9382b) — 1/7/2020 @ 6:00 am