![]() “I’m gonna do this monologue and go into hiding,” Gervais promised us at the opening of his not-so-triumphant return to the Beverly Hilton stage. With Jeff Bezos in the audience, Fallon remarked, “He actually arrived yesterday, but there was no one around to sign for him.” Ironically, Fallon’s funniest joke had nothing to do with the election and playfully joshed our digital corporate overlords instead. The result was short and sweet enough, but it was hard to overlook the tinge of Fallon’s desperate attempts at reinvention after his infamous hair-tousling interview with Trump lost him both viewers and respect. ![]() But otherwise, Gervais’ 2012 monologue fell flat largely because it wasn’t about much of anything.įollowing Gervais’ signature rambling roast style in 2016, Fallon, historically the nice guy of late-night, tried for a more methodical approach - and took swings outside the ballroom at President Trump with jokes about the popular vote and Putin. Credit where credit is due: Gervais landed a joke about the inanity of James Cameron a year before Tina Fey and Amy Poehler would announce themselves with a quality zinger at the same target. In 2012, it seemed quite possible that Gervais had not actually seen any of the movies or TV shows in contention except for “Bridesmaids,” for which, Gervais riffed, “the cast spent the weekend with Dame Helen Mirren.” Other targets included Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, and Gervais’ own vocabulary, penis, and Hollywood Foreign Press Association contract. Gervais is at his worst when he gets lazy, and he clearly phoned it in this year: In his own words, “it’s the last time, who cares?” Awards shows are stupid and don’t matter? Sure, so stop hosting them. “James Corden as a fat pussy?” Witless bully-comedy. The jokes about Martin Scorsese being short? Tired. Other than slandering the good name of Dame Judi Dench by suggesting she partakes in feline anal sampling like her “Cats” character, there was nothing particularly egregious about Gervais’ monologue this year except its unfunniness. Below is a ranking of the ten most recent monologues - from 2011 to 2020, the content of which covers the actual decade, from 2010 to 2019 - discerned with tools of rigorous science. The last decade has variably fulfilled this mandate. And the monologue has to be absurd - but often that absurdity generates itself organically, which is a large part of what makes the Globes such a feckless joy in the sea of gloomy, irresponsible, and unrepresentative escapism that is awards season. When ignored, the structural racism and sexism that plagues the very industry being lampooned overshadows any attempt at cheer when mishandled, the same occurs. The art of a good Golden Globes monologue is delicate and elusive.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |