As I pointed out in my first Golden Globes wrap-up, mainstream journalists are some of the most self-serious d-bags in the world, and they have no idea how to write about comedy, so of course they saw only controversy. People are used to seeing movie stars get their butts kissed at awards shows, so Ricky Gervais cleverly took the roast approach instead (I read in Popular Science that surprise is an important element of humor). Most of the audience understood that, and it didn’t seem like that big a deal.
(Slight Digression: One notable exception here was Judd Apatow, who was mildly critical of Gervais, which for a comedy writer/lover is like seeing your parents fight.)
There was a lot of blah blah blah about who was offended and whether Gervais would be invited back (who hosts an awards show three years in a row anyway?), but now Gervais himself has responded, the way all true gangstas respond, on his blog (via WarmingGlow):
Obviously the rumour that the organizers stopped me going out on stage for an hour is rubbish. I did every link I was scheduled to do. The reason why the gaps were uneven is because when I got the rundown I was allowed to choose who I presented to. I obviously chose the spots that I had the best gags for. They couldn’t move around the order but I could move around however I wanted.
All the same conspiracy theories as last year too… “So and so was offended”… “hasn’t been invited back yet”… exactly the same as last time. “Paul McCartney was furious”…no he wasn’t. And nor was Tim Allen and Tom Hanks. I was drinking with them after.
Why do people have to embellish? They’re allowed to say they hated it. They’re allowed to say they didn’t find it funny, that it was tasteless, over the top, or whatever. But why do they speculate and make stuff up?
Don’t worry, I know the answer. Because it’s more interesting than “it went fine and some people won some awards and then went to a party”. But that’s all that happened.
Yeah, but it wouldn’t be more interesting if the party had midgets carrying cocaine platters and a tranny riding a zebra. Take some responsibility, jackass.