Sorry, I’m a bit late about posting about Ricky Gervais’ third time hosting the Golden Globes. But I’ve been watching the Golden Globes for three years in a row- and all three because he was hosting it. And I’ve been writing about his jokes and the highlights and I didn’t want to make an exception. What can I say? I love Ricky.
I enjoyed this year’s show just as much as I did in 2010 and 2011 and my only complaint that the host should just get more time, especially if it is Ricky Gervais.
People love criticizing just to criticize and Ricky got his fair share of it. People said he went too far for two years. And then this year, apparently he wasn’t raunchy or outrageous enough. In Ricky’s defense, he was just as raunchy, but he had less time. And this year he didn’t have Charlie Sheen as material, or Paul McCartney. Or Cher.
But what really bothered me was that all the actors wanted to be funny when presenting, and if anyone brought the show momentum down, it was the actors- trying to hard to be “nice” and “casual” about Ricky. The only actors that didn’t annoy the hell out of me were Colin Firth, Meryl Streep and the William H. Macy-Felicity Huffman couple.
Below are some of my favorite Ricky moments and you can compare them with his 2010 and 2011 Golden Globe performances.
on Jodie Foster and her movie The Beaver
The Beaver is a 2011 Jodie Foster drama, starring Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster. It’s about a man coming to grips with his depression with the help of a beaver-shaped puppet.
Ricky mentioned that not many guys have seen Jodie Foster’s Beaver. He is sure that it is good, just that it wasn’t seen by guys. The joke is funny, no matter which meaning you want to get. Yes, Jodie Foster is a lesbian and movies like The Beaver don’t typically become box office hits.
on the network, award show and Mel Gibson
He introduced himself as Britain’s best comedian, presenting the second most-watched award show on America’s third most-watched network.
Then Ricky said that he was given a list of what not to joke about, and he read the “list of” from a paper. Apparently, he wasn’t to joke about Mel Gibson this year. He wasn’t also allowed to talk too dirty, but he assured his audience that his vocabulary was quite rich. He wasn’t allowed to do anything naked (not that he ever did), and that it would be the audience’s loss.
on Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp was his first presenter, and he went a little easy on him. After all, he did mock the hell of The Tourist last year, saying that it was the only movie that didn’t have 3D characters and that the box office revenue came from the people who were bribed with Cher concert tickets. Not that it worked, as it wasn’t the 70s anymore.
This year he just asked Johnny if he has seen The Tourist and Johnny said no good-humoredly. But of course before Johnny came to the stage, part of Ricky’s introduction was “The man who wears anything Tim Burton makes him wear”. Since I get bored with 90% of Tim Burton’s movies and at least 60% of Johnny Depp movies, that line was more than enough for me.
on Colin Firth
There is nothing bad to say Colin Firth. Not about his personality, or about his movies. Sure, he made some bad movies in the past (Trauma, for instance), but having won the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Actor in 2011 for his role in The King’s Speech, and having been nominated for Golden Globe and Oscar for A Single Man the year before, it is not like he can joke about Firth’s movies, or performances.
And Colin has been a graceful guy, and it is not like he can joke about his personality. So Ricky did the next best thing. He mocked himself. He said Colin and he were both Brits, but unlike Ricky, Colin had an Oscar. “Oh, good for him”. And unlike Ricky, Colin has women swooning over him. Well, Ricky can’t see it but whatever. And he also said that Colin Firth was racist (which is OK because everyone knows he is not) and that he isn’t as nice as he appears as he punched a blind kitten (which again we know he didn’t.) So when Colin came, he greeted him with a handshake and mock-kicked Ricky.
on George Clooney:
It is a George Clooney year again, enjoying a kind of popularity that Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner (who both have two Oscars, in the same two categories: one for Best Film and one for Best Director) possessed in the 90s. And he is being praised by critics not only for his directing efforts, but his acting is loved too (Costner was nominated for Best Actor Oscar once, and Mel Gibson only has two Golden Globe nominations for his acting efforts). But excluding his possible nominations this year, Clooney has already won an acting Oscar, and he has had several other nominations both for his acting and writing/directing. Yes, he is loved. And people do find him gorgeous. Why everybody is that fascinated by Clooney is beyond me.
And Ricky practically said George could give him a …….. (fill in the blanks) if George got any more successful or handsome. I think this was a great way to point out the Clooney craze, although I am not sure if Ricky thinks George is overrated. But I did enjoy the joke all the same.
On Justin Bieber
Gervais just pointed out what a ridiculous idea it was to ask a paternity test from Justin Bieber, as the only way for him to get a girl pregnant was borrowing a Turkey roaster (or something to that effect) from Martha Stewart. “What a waste of a test that would have been”.
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So no, I don’t think Ricky Gervais talking about his size, or joking about Jodie Foster’s beaver or Bieber’s impregnating abilities was tame. He is only tamer when you compare his Golden Globes material to his shows, where he would even joke about the hunger in Africa.
You don’t go to Gervais for political correctness. You go to him to be funny, unpredictable and outrageous. And the only mistake so far is that they haven’t asked him to do the Oscars yet. More time, more material. He would go crazy. I guess even the tamer Ricky isn’t tame enough for Hollywood…
