‘Naughty’ Golden Globes: Are Hollywood Men Just Getting Warmed Up?
January 18, 2011
by Patricia Garrison
|Based on my admittedly informal survey, a lot of entertainment bloggers really liked Robert Downey Jr’s. riff about sex with actresses at last night’s Golden Globes, calling it the funniest moment in a largely unfunny evening. I agree the broadcast was a train wreck, but casting Downey as the evening’s savior?
Call me a sad and sorry, sexless, you-know-what – and roll you’re eyes and tell me to lighten up, if you must — the “naughty and hilarious” Downey got the predictable cheap laugh you always get when you sexualize women who are at the top of their professional game. Joking that he didn’t know “if an actress can do her best work until I’ve slept with her” and adding that “I’d give it to all five of you, at once, in front of my wife and millions of viewers,” referring to the Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical award he was about to present, Downey scored big laughs.
But, really, in this annual self-congratulatory love fest (snarky host Ricky Gervais notwithstanding) couldn’t Downey come up for air long enough to utter even one word of praise for these women and their achievements?
Thankfully, presenters and award winners that followed offered a counterbalance to Downey’s sexualized one-two punch. (In all fairness, Downey wasn’t alone. Winner Paul Giamatti – bleeped out several times for God knows what – referred to his female costars only as “hotties” rather than graciously thanking them).
Without expressly mentioning Downey, Aaron Sorkin, the director of The Social Network, accepted his award with a nod to “all the female nominees tonight for helping demonstrate to my young daughter that elite is not a bad word, it’s an aspirational one. Honey, look around, smart girls have more fun, and you’re one of them.” Helen Mirren launched into a heartfelt acknowledgement of “all of the beautiful women in the room,” Melissa Leo, who won Best Supporting Actress for The Fighter, gushed about her co-nominees and finally, David Fincher, taking home awards for best director and best drama for The Social Network, was quick to praise co-producer Amy Pascal at Sony Pictures.
In the case of Sorkin, I realize that some of his remarks were no doubt a politically motivated follow-up to his December blog about Sarah Palin’s “anti-elitism”, which may discount any good he might have done to many women and conservatives. I respect that, but know that many (me included) had no idea about his blog (I only learned about it when developing this one.) What we heard was a statement that at the very least ran counter to Downey’s cheap and easy put-down.
Nothing earthshaking, nothing transformative, and yes, given the backstory for Sorkin, not entirely genuine. But, let’s take it for now. The strong year for female actresses is bound to produce its fair share of backlash. After a very long dry spell of poorly written female roles and few female leads, women this year have delivered powerful, often breathtaking performances. Could it be that the men folk are getting just a wee bit insecure? Regardless, with the higher stakes Oscars approaching, they’re just getting warmed up.
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I have a really hard time considering any Hollywood women as inspirational role models. They willingly work in the industry of Corporate Media which is one of the most sexist work places around. They specialize in portraying one dimensional half drawn characters who service male characters sexually or they provide sexual jollies for the male audience.
You can see good and dedicated actresses playing inspirational roles outside of Hollywood. If you want to encourage girls in any of the media fields I would recommend that you turn off Hollywood and take your girls to plays and performances at local Colleges, Communities and even High Schools. There are more opportunities for girls and you see better work.
I also object to awards shows being called the “Women’s Superbowl”, Um NO. Maybe the fashion Superbowl or the Gay Superbowl but women’s interest in award shows is no where near men’s interest in sports. In fact there is no genre of TV that women are as interested in as men are interested in Sports. That is because Hollywood treats the female audience as poorly as they treat female characters and stories.
Agreed.
Check out TGW’s post about poor little Kanye West, who was so inyerface at George W for not caring about the fate of people who didn’t look just like him. Poor Kanye. I wipe away a tear for him.
Warmed up. Right. I can’t get near this subject. If men “aren’t like this,” then where the fuck are they? They sure aren’t protesting it instead of either laughing out loud, laughing in their heads but not out loud or else their wife won’t blow them for a couple days if she gets pissed, or sitting with zipped lips because it’s just not worth making a fuss over.
Men will never get outraged over this. The best we’ll get from them is not outright participation. If they want to prove me wrong, let them drop the remote controls and bags of doritos and do it.
Oh my God Janis. That is a bunch of sick F$%ks.
Yeah. And that asshole is all up on making me feel guilty over how HIS kind were lynched. I’m not caring about PC anymore. Sorry. I guess if the victim is white, skinny, and wearing sexy lingerie, it’s not lynching imagery.
BTW, Sarah Palin is responsible for violent imagery in this country because … um … she made a map. Or something.
It just hit me: This is what it means for there to be a post-racial culture. ANY man ANYWHERE gets to shit on ANY WOMAN, regardless of color. Wow, I’m just bowled over by the post-racial paradise. Paradise for who? Psychotic slavering male rapists and serial murderers who should be put in a zoo, maybe. Not so much for the rest of us.
Send the link to Parents Television Council and Concerned Women for America. My computer is completely screwed or I would do it. These are conservative groups. NOW and the Liberal/Progressives won’t give a rats ass.
I can not even stomach Hollywood movies anymore. Their religious devotion to Obama and irrational hatred of Sarah Palin turned me off. I can’t watch their movies which I had already consisdered an inferior art form. While Hollywood actors who love to preach to US about social inequality, being green and everything else they are hardly qualified to comment on, they continue to be the worst sterio typers, misogynists and energy gluttons out there. I stick to the old Hollywood movies. It takes me back to a time when America had class.
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