Awards host hits the nail on the head

Hollywood’s glitterati shouldn’t have been surprised at finding themselves the butt of jokes by Ricky Gervais at this year’s Golden Globe Awards.

He’s foul-mouthed and he goes for the jugular, skewering vanities left, right and centre.

Many were the nervous laughs when Gervais advised the stars that if they were called up on stage to receive an award, they should not “use it as a platform to make a political speech”.

“You are in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.

“So, if you win, right? Come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your God”, and leave the stage, he concluded, using an expletive.

That got a few laughs and some shakes of the head from the assembled great and good.

But then, as they say in the classics – if not the movies – once the dogs had barked, the caravan moved on.

Yet, Gervais was right in the sense that film fame often goes to the heads of people who, let’s not forget, are really just entertainers.

Whether they’re bleating about climate change or African orphans, it sometimes seems like nothing but a big act.

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