These awards are nice on the surface as we outsiders think of them as a way the industry awards their own for a job well done. In reality, there is undoubtedly a lot of kissing up, booty-kissing and just plain politics as to who gets the nod for each of the various awards. The whole award routine is an excellent and not-too-hidden way to boost the take at the box office.
How many times have we sat back and seen a movie or actor receive an award and we say, either silently or in company, that we need to go see that performance? So, we’re off to see the movie. There’s one ticket that probably wouldn’t have been purchased if it hadn’t been for the award ceremony. Countless other tickets are sold in just the same way with moviegoers saying they “have” to see that performance. The award ceremonies are a great way to increase sales and fan the flames to get moviegoers to go to the movies, buy movies, rent movies, etc.
Some movie fans idolize the actors for one reason or the other. In reality, many of these actors are so dysfunctional in so many ways that many of us would be hard-pressed to even want to sit down and have a cup of coffee with them.
Keep in mind, the actors’ work surrounds the world of make-believe. After a while, even their real world becomes almost make-believe. Buy an issue of People or US magazine and see how the actors real lives are played out and then compare that performance with how they are depicted in their “reel” lives and there is a world of difference. It’s all smoke and mirrors; it’s all make-believe. In essence, these actors have become “them.” Reality and make-believe can’t be separated by anyone for any reason. Mix that with a dose or two of either dope or booze or both and you have another reason for dysfunction. In fact, the booze and dope might be an effort on the part of the actor to escape the world of make-believe in which they have become entrapped. That’s why some of these actors end up going through various places for rehabilitation for various excesses.
That’s not to say that there aren’t a good many actors who are well-grounded and lead what we common folk might call normal lives. There are those as well, but there is also a good many that, for whatever reason, lead some really bizarre lifestyles and have some really bizarre outcomes in their lives as well.
The entertainment world thrives on headlines. This fact of the Hollywood life often pushes these actors to live out their real lives in these off-the-wall styles as well. If the actor gets too “out there” they tend to cause their own self-destruction as a result. The “big wigs” don’t want to touch them as they have become too “out there” for even Hollywood to be able to depend on and they are then more or less tossed on the trash heap of has-been actors.
When that happens, it’s like the Midas touch has become a curse and these actors have become a sort of pestilence to the world of make-believe. They are the broken mannequin over which the cloak of the role they played on screen was thrown to allow the once brilliant performance to shine for that all too brief moment on screen.
Larry Wilson is a 50-year resident of Sparks and a retired elementary school teacher. You can contact him at lawilson16@aol.com.
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