Get over it

If Ricky Gervais never hosts an awards show again Hollywood should hang its head in shame. Not only because they'd be denying a genuinely funny guy another chance to show off his skills in front of a large group of celebrities, but also because they'll be admitting defeat and proving that they really don't have a sense of humour.

Long story short, he hosted the Golden Globes this week and ended up pissing off a whole lot of people. Many actors walked out of the ceremony angry and most US media outlets called him a prick. Robert Downey jr told the media that Ricky had gone too far and that he preferred jokes that 'doesn't have to make people feel bad'. Well that's all well and good, Bobby, but to you I say respectfully, harden up, mate. Are you and some of your fellow thespians really that uptight that you're willing to have a go at some dude who was paid to dish out as many jokes as he could muster that night? The comedian who tells jokes are the heart of the ceremony as far as I'm concerned (Well, to some people it's the outfits and the awards themselves, but A: fashion is always changing and B: Who cares! The results are often fixed anyway). The comedian's job is to tell as many jokes as they can about the show that they're hosting, and if they're done at your expense, well it sucks but tomorrow's another day, and it's not meant to be taken seriously, let alone personally. And if they're making fun of some stupid thing you did in your past and you can't take it, well then it's too damned bad. You just can't handle the truth. I don't hear Mel Gibson complaining about how Ricky made fun of his recent behaviour. Ditto Charlie Sheen. If these guys who have fallen from grace can take the joke why can't you? (Of course, there's the possibility that Mel and Chuck were probably sitting in a jail cell or sleeping off another bender and therefore wouldn't have been aware of what happened).

Speaking of which, did it not occur to some of these people that Ricky was just telling the truth? Among his most brutal jokes was that The Tourist was a crap film and that famous Scientologists were gay. Well, I can't really speak for The Tourist since I haven't seen it, but most reviews I've read have given it failing marks and my friends who have seen it say it's the biggest waste of time and money they've ever seen. Angie and Johnny's acting was apparently so wooden that termites would've salivated while watching it. As for that Scientologist crack, it's brutal, it's tasteless, but remember the gay rumours that surrounded John Travolta? Might have stemmed from that. And as for the jokes about Downey jr's rehab and jail history, Sheen's partying, Gibson's DUI's and other controversies, well they are facts, fellas, so don't be whining and crying to the media that Ricky was picking on you, all he did was simply tell the truth about your past misdemeanours (and in the case of the latter, their present misdemeanours).

Maybe some of Ricky's jokes did cross the line, but what kind of comedian doesn't do that once in a while? He did what he had to do to make the Golden Globes interesting and if it had to come to the stuff he spouted off during the Golden Globes, then so be it. It's not like he made those jokes out of malice. Hollywood and its stars need to get over themselves. Can you imagine how boring the awards show would've been without him? As he put it after the ceremony: 'For three hours every year, Hollywood is scared of me. It's great!'

Amen to that, Ricky.