Posted on 01/17/2011 11:30:23 AM PST by ejdrapes
It was such a refreshing treat watching Ricky Gervais go knives out during last year's Golden Globes, attacking the likes of Mel Gibson, Angelina Jolie and Sir Paul McCartney. Honestly, he didn’t say anything any worse then what is said by millions of viewers on their couches, but Ricky was in the room, looking right at his victims. It was a rush. So when it was announced that Gervais would be coming back for more, the conversation naturally turned to, “Can he top last year’s performance?” The press (guilty) all but begged him to dial it up to 11, to once again skewer Hollywood’s sacred cows, and he essentially vowed to do it. Sure enough, Gervais wasted no time in going after Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, the Hollywood Foreign Press, and the cast and crew of “The Tourist,” all in the first 10 minutes. Now, a day after he did exactly as asked, people are wondering if maybe he went too far. Assuming that he did, who’s to blame, exactly? One year we revel in the meanness, the next year people are saying he was too mean. Whoever hosts the show in 2012 will no doubt turn down the vitriol, and we can continue fine-tuning things until we get just the right amount of acidity. For now, however, the HFPA is wasting no time in distancing themselves from Gervais. "Ricky will not be invited back to host the show next year, for sure," a member of the HFPA told PopEater. "For sure any movie he makes he can forget about getting nominated. He humiliated the organization last night and went too far with several celebrities whose representatives have already called to complain." It's like they threw a wolf in a chicken coop, returned three hours later to find a pile of eviscerated birds and are now furiously shouting, "Bad doggie!" And let’s not forget, too, that Gervais was hardly the only one shaping the tone of the evening. Robert Downey Jr. -- just moments after noting the mean-spiritedness of the proceedings -- expressed an interest in bedding all five of the Best Actress in a Comedy nominees. Robert De Niro made a vaguely racist joke about members of the HFPA and many of the waiters working the room getting deported. Even sweet, lovely, Harvard-educated Natalie Portman assured us that her fiancée “totally wants to sleep with (her)!” Predictably, it’s been suggested that maybe the horrible tragedy assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, which left six innocent people dead and wounded another 13, was still too fresh in everyone’s minds for such talk. But did anyone who was part of the show even mention Giffords or the other victims? Were there ribbons being worn that we somehow missed? Attempts to equate Gervais’ snark with Stephen Colbert’s performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner don’t quite hold up. As much as you may have loved Colbert’s attacks on President Bush, the fact is Colbert totally sandbagged the man. Some gentle ribbing was to be expected, it’s the whole purpose of the evening as well as Colebrt’s stock and trade. But no one could’ve guessed at how viciously Colbert would go for the jugular. Gervais, on the other hand, was simply doing what was expected of him. Though he was mostly funny last night, Gervais just didn’t seem comfortable. Maybe he knew he was going too far, maybe his heart wasn’t in it. Maybe he knew his shtick wouldn’t work as well this year because it was expected. In any event, he should still be among the first people to call when you need an MC.Ricky Gervais Was Only as Mean as We’d Hoped He'd Be
What a bunch of pompus arses that can’t handle someone making fun of them and their self absorption.
—
You talking to me?
You talking to me?
The Lifetime Achievement to DeNiro was mildly entertaining. 8-}
other than that,, gleeep.
I missed the circle jerk they had last night. And I’m glad I did. Who cares what some guy that reads stuff off cue cards says about other people that read things written by somebody else. The Golden Globes must be important because it was on TV. It just is not important to me.
I’ll admit it—I laughed at all of Ricky’s jokes and slams.
He is the Don Rickles of the 21st Century.
LLS
My goodness, these pompous people are certainly full of themselves, including the entertainment reporter who wrote this.
Yes but Don would grovel at Sinatra’s feet asking for forgiveness..........
I forgot about that...
Maybe he just does not like the people that were paying him... I know I do not like any of you hollyweird weirdos.
LLS
For sure, totally. Sounds like a valley girl.
Why has Hollywood and the vicious twins of Comedy Central gotten off the hook with this "climate of hate" meme?
We hear now that Jared Louhner had Bush Derangement Syndrome. What do you want to bet that his computer is full of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert youtubes?
Tucson was Jon Stewart's fault.
Mrs. 2ndDivisionVet watches all the award shows (her only vice) so I saw it. Ricky Gervais was HILARIOUS, but the rest of the show was a big yawn.
His shtick is making people feel uncomfortable.
I don’t get it. I mean it’s show business, the emphasis being “business”.
If one can’t be a self deprecating, self effacing or take some jokes about themselves then why are they in show business?
No has always been Cache’ in Hollywood and rejection is the motivation that spurs many to great success, all the while they say to themselves “I don’t care what they say or what they think...I KNOW I CAN and I WILL!”.
Some actors wait 10, 20 or more years to get an idea they had/have on the screen.
They need and use the paparazzi to get their names in the press.
They say outlandish things so they will be noticed.
Wear some of the weirdest outfits that loudly scream “I’m over here!”.
This while they just heard No for the umpteenth time this week alone or “It’s a possibility”(meaning - Yawn) or “I could get involved if so and so were to get involved. Go get them and let’s hope there are not scheduling issues”.
Have your people call my people, for lunch, is so oft use it’s become boorish but nothing the new 10 foot pole can’t handle “text me”.
Star want to be in the press for all the right reasons but they have to allow access for that to happen and enable the right people with some license to let a word or two slip about who id sleeping with who or dating or taking trips “as friends”.
You don’t just get someone from the Four Seasons to let that kind of stuff loose, as they are known for their unwillingness to divulge anything about their guests.
Still, a star or potential star can create a stir and tell them “Don’t worry, it’s alright”, and bitch mightily when they are made fun of for being human, erh, famous, check that, famously human.
Get over yourselves. You wanted to be famous using a knife that cuts both ways and you knew it would eventually.
You are famous and sometime infamous but you are a human who live in this world while living in the one in your head.
Deal with it.
Never understood that whole Sinatra as ‘tough guy’ make-believe mafia dude. Hustled his way out of WW II.
Remember the days when we made fun of EVERYONE?
These people would never hack the old Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts.
He hung around mafia dons...............
Just once I’d like to see an all out brawl break out between winners and losers... or an epic food fight breaking out that would put the one in a Three Stooges episode to shame... I’d watch every year if there was a possiblity it could happen.
Please don’t compare Gervais to the Master. I love roasts and enjoy seeing pompous Hollywood celebrities get skewered (it’s not like they ever give conservatives a break). The rest of the media doesn’t mind either because the HFP is one of the most phony, corrupt org’s around. However, most of Ricky’s jokes were witless hackery. Making fun of Charlie Sheen and Downy’s boozing? Cruise and Travolta’s closeted gayness? How many times have those jokes been told by countless comics and internet snarkers. That’s talentless hack comedy—like joking about Keith Richard’s longevity or the way white people dance. It’s only amusing because he had the balls to say it in front of that crowd.
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