I never watch the awards shows nowadays. I used to love them. The glamour, the emotion, the suspense, wondering if your favourite movie will win ‘Best Picture’ – it all used to be a fascinating part of the entertainment industry. I particularly loved the gowns. No ordinary person would ever dream of wearing any of them, not just because of the cost, but it used to be all so… fabulous. But that all changed about a decade ago, as celebrities decided that they should start telling us how to live our lives. Then it became a battle to ‘outwoke’ each other, and then, after the 2016 election, it turned feral. Now, I check the news the next day, to see who won what… that is if I can be bothered any more.
So when Twitter started to come alive with comments about Ricky Gervais’s opening speech, I had to have a look. First, I adore Ricky Gervais. Only he could make a drama series about a man who wants to kill himself because his wife died… and make it really good, and also funny. If you haven’t seen After Life, I recommend you watch it.
But I love Ricky even more now, after his speech on the 2020 Golden Globes. No one has ever socked it to the Hollywood elite quite like this.
No one can say it wasn’t well and truly deserved either.
You can watch the entire speech below.
Reminding everyone that ‘they are only jokes’, his main attacks were aimed at the wokeness and hypocrisy that is so prevalent in Hollywood today.
He had a crack at ‘diversity’ –
“We were going to do an “in memoriam” this year, but when I saw the list of people that had died, it wasn’t diverse enough. It was mostly white people, and I thought – Nah. Not on my watch.”
My favourite part is where he attacks actors who claim to be ‘woke’, but queue up to work for companies that run sweatshops in China, such as Apple.
“If ISIS started a streaming service, you’d call your agent. 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. So, if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God and fxxx off.”
Ricky Gervais.
What was so brilliant about this was that several of the celebrities did make political speeches, as Ricky knew they would, but he had already stolen their thunder. When Jennifer Aniston accepted an award on behalf of Russell Crowe, because he was supposedly ‘defending his family’ from the fires, everyone knew that this was simply not true. It created a picture of Russell singlehandedly saving the whole of Australia from the bushfires, but everyone knows he was not doing that. And as Aniston managed to squeeze out a few tears, Ricky had already shown up this charade for what it was – another bit of fairly average acting from a fairly average actress.
And when Michelle Williams told the audience that she would never have made it in the movies if she had not aborted one of her children, it made the whole charade look terribly fake and worthless. She was even applauded for her sacrifice. I found that quite disgusting. When Williams went on, inevitably to try to tell everyone how to vote, it rang extremely hollow. I am a believer in choice for women, but of all the reasons you may feel the need to abort a child, starring in a movie seems like one of the worst kind. Why anyone would ever take advice from someone so shallow is something that hung in the air, thanks to Ricky Gervais’ opening speech.
Thank you, Ricky for having the guts to stand up there and show them all up for what they really are. Not that he cared what they thought – he made that pretty clear. He even had a go at the #metoo movement later in the show, pointing out that Hollywood created the situation by deliberately turning a blind eye to what was going on. I am not defending Harvey Weinstein in any way, but many of those accusing him of sexual assault were happy to accept his advances… when they wanted a part in a movie. “You did it,” said Gervais, and he is right.
And yes. Ricky Gervais is almost certainly hugely wealthy. I don’t know and I don’t care. But he has done more for animal rights than almost anyone, so he doesn’t preach so much as practise.
This is his last time presenting the Golden Globes. What a shame. I might have watched it next year just for him. But never mind. I can always look up the winners on the news the following day. Let’s see if his scolding makes any difference to the preaching celebrities out there. It probably won’t, but… you never know.
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