The Comedy of Being Lectured to by Hollywood [OPINION]
I don't watch many Hollywood award shows, but when I do I find them hilarious. I'm either laughing with a celebrity or laughing at a celebrity. Winning!
Watching the Golden Globe Awards is how I ended a weekend of television watching that was dominated by the National Football League's Wild Card games. I was able to watch all four of the games and many of the Sunday political shows. I tuned in to the award show because Tom Hanks was going to speak and I have always enjoyed his work and his public appearances.
The Golden Globe Awards are a project of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The awards have a long and important tradition of raising funds and "have enabled the non-profit organization to donate more than $29 million in the past thirty years to entertainment-related charities, as well as funding scholarships and other programs for future film and television professionals."
I have always been able to separate the political opinions of entertainers from their art. I don't really care how a singer or an actor feels about energy policy or marginal tax rates unless they are running for political office. I enjoy the entertainment products of Bruce Springsteen, Robert DeNiro, Clint Eastwood, Alec Baldwin, etc. They are entitled to speak and vote as they like all Americans. I support their right to give millions of dollars to any political candidate or cause as it is their God-given right and protected by the Constitution of the United States of America.
Lots of people get angry with Hollywood celebrities who take political opinions, but not me. I usually find it amusing and often laugh-out-loud foolishness.
These award shows are just like any other industry get-together, except that the genius businessmen who run the entertainment world have found a way to monetize the event. There is no difference between the entertainment industry celebrating their top employees and any other industry. There are well-deserved awards given out every year in the insurance, real estate, medical, banking and legal industries to top employees.
Except they took the meat off the menu for the dinner this year. They even had fake scallops made from mushrooms rather than the healthy real scallops that come from the hard-working fisherman of New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Imagine being lectured to about abortion by the 2019 top producer in the New England real estate market? Can you picture yourself in a ballroom with a co-worker who used the company award ceremony to denounce the use of gas and oil?
The best line of the night came from Joaquin Phoenix when he pleaded with the audience about the environment and then reminded his fellow actors that they didn't have to take private jets everywhere. Was that line written for him by Ayn Rand?
Entertainers are funny, sometimes more than they even understand.
Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.