LAURA JOHNSON
Assistant Life Editor
After the announcement was made Jan. 7, it was as if the globe ceased to turn, at least in Hollywood anyway.
Last week, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made headlines when it canceled its annual fundraiser, more formally known as the Golden Globes, which would have raised more than $60 million this year.
The original ceremony, held at the Beverly Hilton, as it has been for the past 34 years, took place Sunday evening, with a more formal press conference rather than an all-out gala.
The celebration normally marks the beginning of all that is the glitz and glamour of what is surely Meryl Streep’s favorite part of the year: award season. This means that newcomers such as “Atonement’s” James McAvoy and “Juno’s” Ellen Page will not receive red-carpet screen time they have worked so hard to earn.
The Globes have never been as serious of an event as, say, the Academy Awards. This is the place where the cameras pan over Tinsel Town’s elite sitting around white tables, guzzling booze while pretending to make polite banter. Yet, they are special in that it is the only award show to bring the top names from movies and television together for one night.
As Sunday night proved, the show must really go on, even if the people announcing big star-studded winners are the anchors from “Access Hollywood” and “Entertainment Tonight.” It seems the recipients of the awards still manage to appreciate them.
“It’s sad,” senior Allie Smith said about the show. “Award season is so fun. I support the writers and everything, but it needs to be resolved soon. Watching the awards in a press conference format just wasn’t very personal.”
On the other hand, some students feel the telecast actually benefited from being cut to the barebones of the presentation.
“I liked that it was done this way,” junior David Sheftell said. “I thought it was better because it was quick and easy, and we found out what we wanted to know right away. Johnny Depp won – great, there we go.”
Although the telecast actually plummeted 71 percent from last year ratings, this may be attested to the fact that people probably didn’t even know it was airing and instead found refuge in the NFL’s divisional playoff game between the Cowboys and Giants.
“This means serious business,” said Jordan Jarvis who is a music/theatre major, said. “It is annoying as an actor that people are not paying more attention to this. Especially in the wake of this war, entertainment is a means of escape and it doesn’t seem to mean a lot to people that the writers for the shows that we all love so much are on strike. The Globes being cancelled makes me nervous for the future.”
Another student directly affected by the WGA strike, as he will be going out into the industry soon, is senior theater major Alex Fthenakis.
“I guess I am worried,” Fthenakis said. “A casting director actually came and talked to one of my classes last week and said that things are getting pretty bad for work.
“If things really do go south, it will mean a change in the amount of money and competition in the industry. If that happens though, I’ll just go to theatre. Maybe the stage will make a comeback.”
It has since been announced that the Academy Awards will not be cancelled, to the relief of many. Yet, the questions of what will become of the entertainment industry still linger in the air.
Dr. Kara Jolliff -Gould, professor of communication, says this strike will have an large impact on the industry.
“I foresee less interest in the Globes in the years to come,” Jolliff-Gould said. “This strike impacts much more than the writers and I think award shows in general may drop altogether.
“It’s hard to say what will or will not happen but at any rate we’re going to see internet-based programming coming up fast, which is the very thing the writer’s are striking about in the first place.”
01-17-2008
