...And The Award Goes To.........

I'll admit it. I watched most of The Golden Globes last night as the show tends to be a bit less formal than The Oscars and I can just about stand a small dose of 'luvvies' every now and then. I was also hoping it MIGHT be a bit different and the winners would just say thanks and get off stage.

But therein lies the problem with these people. Luvvies + a stage = performance time.

I don't buy celeb magazines or watch showbiz tv shows like ET. I want my tv and movie stars to entertain me for the duration of the tv show or movie and that's it. I don't need to know what they do off screen and who with and what they're wearing, or not wearing, when doing those things.

From the era of the first flickering images of a silent black & white movie to the super high def digital 3D spectaculars we have today, those of us who don't act have seemingly been obsessed with those who do. Not can, but do. A whole industry exists to fuel their egos and satisfy our desire to know what they are up to 24/7. How can that help to make them well rounded individuals ? When millions read what you say and do, what chance do you have to be normal ?

They will claim that the downside means they can't 'move among us' and lead normal lives but they can't have it both ways. They can't court publicity and then complain about it when it doesn't suit them. Or can they ? What's to stop them publicising themselves and their show/movie but then going private the rest of the time ?

The answer, it seems, is us. We don't want them to be private. We want to know what they do, what they're thinking about, what they shop for, what clothes they wear, how many babies they'll adopt this week and so on. We are to blame for thinking they are special, different from us, famous.

I regard myself as a 'normal' fan of these people. If I knew that Tom Hanks or Meg Ryan (when she was cute and not nutty) or that funny one from The Big Bang Theory was passing the end of my street, sure I'd be out there wanting to see him or her. I'd probably want to be photographed with them and even make a bit of physical contact - we're just talking Meg Ryan here before the rumours start up again. But I don't KNOW these people. I just like how they entertain me on the big and small screen. Remember they're reading lines others have written and even their movements are being directed by...the director. Out of character they could be awful people or idiots, or both. I mean I wouldn't buy a product just because any of them use it ! Come on, get real.

Get real ? That's the thing. They're NOT real, not really. They're actors. What they say and do for 22 or 122 minutes is what we like about them. After that, why do we care about them ?

And so back to The Golden Globes. It's an award show. Individuals getting awards for doing a good job during a specific show or movie. THEY get the award for what THEY did. So why do THEY all thank everyone else ? Fear ? Fear that if they don't mention everyone from their parents to the key grip technicians that they'll be blacklisted as self centred and never work again ?

During the show I felt like the room was inside a huge bubble inside which these people live their lives. They all have individual bubbles of course for daily living, but when they all get together like this, those little bubbles temporarily burst and they share the big one. Those of us outside the bubble look in and will never understand what it's like to be on the inside. More to the point, and despite what they may say to the contrary to try and sound like us, they have no wish to ever be on the outside. WHEN that day comes, they have plastic surgery and hip replacements and try and get back in. It's very sad.

Within the bubble, one can do and say whatever one likes as everyone else totally understands. There are different rules inside and as long as you don't upset your fellow bubblees, anything goes. Lets be honest. If you or I stood up and spoke like most of those award winners last night, we'd be cringing at the video this morning. Without a script and in some cases even with an autocue, it was both painful and embarrassing to listen to them. The content was bad enough but the delivery was worse. And these are the people we obsess about ? Gimme a break.

But bubble people don't see things as we do. It's a tight knit, closed off community. The ones in the crowd simply aspire to be up on that stage gushing away accepting an award, crying by the end and with the tears, finally letting the doubters know they CAN actually act ! It's almost mandatory to have a mini rant about some current political or humanitarian story to pretend you are intelligent and caring even if you come across as borderline nuts in doing so. As long as those in bubbleworld cheer and applaud you, that's all you care about.

I always love it when an award winner pauses and says "I hope I didn't leave anyone out." LEAVE ANYONE OUT !!! I'm actually shocked that I didn't get a mention ! Last night, one or two, probably only one actually, realised that they'd finished early and no one was winding them up or the 'get off' music hadn't started and so they went back and thanked a few people twice ! Now that's a pro ! Another showed us that one of an actor's skills is to NOT listen when it suits them and so, despite the 'get off' music starting, they continued to speak and only stopped, I assume, during the commercial break. Who knows.

And so the bubble bunch had a wonderful evening. Lots of kissing, hugs and handshakes and mutterings of how wonderful each other was in such and such a show/movie. I'm sure some of them were sincere and that friendships do exist within bubbleworld but I think those are as rare as a short acceptance speech. I mean, considering the inhabitants, why wouldn't there be acting going on inside the bubble ?

And finally, I'd like to thank..... But first, here is a photo to prove I can have stars in my eyes as well. This is NASA astronaut Story Musgrave looking slightly overwhelmed standing next to a famous person. Story has done more in his life than most and as well as having a bio so impressive it's scary, is the only astronaut to have flown in all 5 shuttles and for that alone, I was thrilled, and I'll admit, a little awestruck to have met him a couple of years ago. He lives just up the road outside Orlando and we've kept in touch via email since that meeting. He's a genuine, down to earth (ha !) person you would pass in the street and never recognise and yet if he was up on a stage accepting an award, would have every right to have a long list of people to thank.

People of bubbleworld (also known as bubbleheads), take note. It's not a concept you'll be familiar with or sadly, want to accept, but sometimes less is more.