Samhain Publishing Ltd Weblog

Red Carpet Withdrawal

I think the writer’s strike really hit home for me last weekend. Oh, I’ve been following all the developments since the beginning, reading the blogs, tracking the industry news. But it didn’t really impact me until I saw clips from the Golden Globes.

It had been turned into a news conference.

A NEWS CONFERENCE, for heaven’s sake!

Right then I knew it was going to be a long, sad, empty awards season.

I love awards shows. I love to watch the year-in-review clips, the montages of thematically-combined performances. I wait in breathless anticipation of the first over-the-top acceptance speech. I wonder who will be trapped in the bathroom when their name is announced. I groove to the spectacularly bad dance interpretations of nominated songs. I root for movies and actors I’ve never heard of before.

And the red carpet! Ah, the proliferation of fancy dresses and classic tuxes! The stilted interviews and posed smiles! I could eat it up with a spoon, I tell you.

The Globes are, for me, the kickoff of the awards season. (I love the Kennedy Center honors, too, but the winners are already announced ahead of time. The element of suspense is missing.) With the traditional booze-fueled dinner party turned into a bland, boring recitation of winners for the cameras, the joy has dimmed.

And if the strike doesn’t end soon, who knows what’ll happen to the Academy Awards? shudder

I want to know who wins for Best Documentary short. In all the years I’ve watched the Oscars, handy Entertainment Weekly scorecard in hand, I’ve never actually seen one of the nominated films in this category. But for that one night, I’m totally invested in it.

I’m there, with the nominees, waiting with bated breath for the announcement. I want the swelling music, the tearful thanks, the moments of joy and heartache and really, truly awful dresses.

Sadly, that pleasure is in serious jeopardy now. The writer’s strike shows no signs of ending, as both sides are dug in for the long haul. The AMPTP has no intention of letting go of their profits, and the writers don’t want to work for nothing.

But…but…what about the children? Or at least the Best Animated Feature award? Come on, AMPTP, give the writers that extra four cents a DVD. They’ve earned it.

Please?

Pretty please?

My red carpet addiction is depending on it!

Do you watch awards shows? What’s your favorite part?