Diversity in Hollywood: Ricky Gervias at the Golden Globe Awards
This year’s Golden Globe Awards included historic firsts such as Awkwafina becoming the first ever Asian-American woman to win a Golden Globe Award for best actress, winning for her role in the comedy drama film, “Farewell.”
What was not a first at this year’s awards was comedian Ricky Gervias hosting, returning for his fifth consecutive year. Announcing that this was his last year hosting the award ceremony, Gervias took certain liberties in his jokes that, while being consistent with his brand and comedic style, were increasingly risqué compared to his jokes from previous years.
“This is the last time I’m hosting these awards, so I don’t care anymore,” said the creator of the British TV series ‘The Office.’ “I’m joking, I never did. NBC clearly didn’t care either.” Gervias has been known for his brash and blunt humor, and for jokes that seem to push the limits of established societal norms.
One such comment from Gervias’ stint hosting the award show this year reflects an age-old problem within Hollywood that has risen to the surface and received a lot of attention in recent years: Black films, sitcoms, actors, filmmakers, and directors not being given the same consideration as their white counterparts.
“Many talented people of color were snubbed in major categories. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about that – The Hollywood Foreign Press are all very, very racist,”
Gervias said in a matter-of-fact tone. Audience members’ reactions included dropped jaws, cherry red faces and even some head shakes of disapproval, though Gervias didn’t give viewers much time to ruminate on his statement. Actor Tom Hanks’ reaction was even made into a meme due to the look of total shock and disbelief on his face.
Instead of further addressing the loaded comment, Gervias continued to poke fun at diversity initiatives in another fashion.
“We were going to do an in memoriam this year, but when I saw the list of people that died, it wasn’t diverse enough.” With this, Gervias overextends the complaints that the Hollywood Foreign Press have received in relation to people of color being nominated for and winning awards (entirely controlled by old institutions with older, homogenous members) to something as outside of anyone’s realm of control as someone else’s death.
Gervias was using this overextension to make a joke and suggest that he wanted to steer entirely clear of the possibility of being accused of not having a sufficiently diverse list. Hinting at the sensitivity surrounding the topic of race in institutions such as Hollywood, Gervias’ statement here was a powerful one. This same sensitivity can and has led to people treating race as a taboo, untouchable topic, inside and outside of the entertainment industry.
Source: Variety
While Gervias’ initial statement itself might not receive much vocal pushback, as the overwhelming lack of diversity within Hollywood is widely recognized (though not all deem it important enough to address), Gervias’ second joke leaves room for criticism.
The often homogenous groups that decide which movies, shows or artists win at award ceremonies have come under fire for failing to give fair consideration to people of color, but Gervias arguably minimizes this hypersensitivity with his joke, suggesting that it is not called for or “extra.” Through his hyperbolic application of criticizing the lack of diversity within award nominees to criticizing the lack of diversity within deceased celebrities to commemorate, Gervias demonstrates that the topic of diversity is always a consideration, for better or for worse, especially on such a large, public scale.
Is Gervias’ comparison to be understood as minimizing complaints surrounding the lack of diversity in Hollywood and award ceremonies? Is this considered insensitive and deserving of further critique, or simply regarded as a joke meant to illicit a response from the audience, and possibly challenge some lines of thinking? Is this something that Gervias can readily joke about because he belongs to a demographic that doesn’t suffer from a lack of representation in the entertainment industry (or anywhere, for that matter)?
Some refer to standup comedy as the last firewall in the battle of free speech. As a comedian, Gervias is probably used to dancing on the fine line between offensive and comical. The issue is that this line is not drawn in the same place for any two people, meaning that what is considered offensive or funny is highly subjective.
Source: bigfootjustice.com
The culture surrounding talking about race has undoubtedly shifted since political correctness came to the forefront of public social interactions, wielding a degree of power over comedy, though many comedians refute this encroachment of regulations on their creative space.
Addressing the lack of diversity within Hollywood, referring specifically to the list of nominees at this year’s Golden Globes, was done by Gervias in a very direct manner. Does him publicly acknowledging the problem then give him free reign to joke about the problem?
The timing between Gervias boldly calling out The Hollywood Foreign Press for failing to select diverse nominees and Gervias minimizing complaints surrounding the lack of diversity in Hollywood is peculiar, since the comedian seems to flip flop between caring about the issue and using it as his next punchline. Whether Gervias actually cares about diversifying Hollywood or not, his brash statements and jokes certainly captured folks’ attention and had the effect of calling attention to race in the entertainment industry in an uncomfortable way.
The responsibility falls on us as consumers to discern whether or not certain jokes are funny or acceptable based on our own standards, and to hold comedians accountable where we individually see fit.
