After Hollywood’s left-wing allies in the media launched a full-fledged attack on Ricky Gervais for daring to mock celebrities at the Golden Globes, I joked that the Los Angeles sun must create thin skin. Based on how the Independent’s Jo Murch responded to Gervais, it’s clear that my diagnosis was inaccurate, for skin is even thinner in gloomy London.
In case you missed it — and I hope you did — Murch wrote: “Ricky Gervais cheapened the Golden Globes — but worse he overshadowed vital political statements.”
The Independent’s writer was, amusingly, genuinely outraged that the awards show didn’t take a break from honoring highbrow fare such as Disney’s Frozen 2 to focus on advancing her radical left-wing ideology. It’s almost as if Murch doesn’t realize she wasn’t attending the Democratic National Convention and was instead viewing an event focused on cinematic achievements.
Unfortunately, she’s part of a larger movement of people who take its views far too seriously and seek to politicize everything. Sporting events, movies, popular music, beauty pageants, the label on your coffee cup … these folks won’t rest until every waking moment of our lives is obsessed with their ideology.
Don’t they realize that many of us turn to Hollywood as a form of escapism? In these serious times, we’d actually like a break from politics. And surely all of us would like a break from their condescending progressive lectures.
Murch thinks the problem with our society is that we don’t have enough politics. She bemoans the lack of progressive lectures. In fact, one of her previous columns was titled, “Why Amber winning Love Island was a feminist act.” Only a radical leftist could take a trashy British reality show and find such a political angle within it.
The ultimate irony is that people like Murch have no tolerance for anyone who tires of their lectures and, of course, for anyone who disagrees with them.
Remember when the Left encouraged us to “question authority”? That stopped as soon as they deemed themselves the authority. Now we’re all encouraged to shut up and follow their rules.
The Independent’s writer goes on to attack Gervais for acting “like a teenager acting up to shock his parents.” Perhaps, but wouldn’t that make Murch the annoying classmate who reminds the teacher that he forgot to assign homework?
Let’s be honest — had Gervais made disgustingly crude jokes about President Trump, I’m pretty confident Murch would applaud him for “acting up.” She would laud his bravery — as if attacking Trump in Hollywood is somehow courageous.
Some of us actually enjoy celebrating achievement in cinema. If that’s not the primary purpose of an awards show such as the Golden Globes, when can we have our moment?
The only humorous moment of Murch’s column came unintentionally — when she attacked Gervais for being nasty … and in the very next sentence called the host an “idiotic clapping monkey.” Murch sounds like she’d be a lot of fun at parties.
Adam Guillette is the president of Accuracy in Media, www.aim.org.
