It used to be that a Hollywood awards show would have a single incident in which a recipient would say some annoying political statement. The rest of the broadcast was devoted to the art, though often in an aggravating self-congratulatory fashion as if the most important thing in the world is who won the award for best-supporting actress in a comedy. However, the most recent Emmys had become a three-hour political rant with a few television awards added in, as if by an afterthought. Welcome to the age of Donald trump.
Stephen Colbert is to blame
Anyone who actually watches these shows, and by all accounts that’s a rapidly diminishing number of people, should have taken warning since Stephen Colbert, the most political and tedious late night host on the air, was the host.
The show started with a song and dance routine with people, some of them men in drag, dressed in risqué versions of handmaids from “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Trump, the upcoming HBO show “Confederate,” and global warming were all mentioned. It went downhill from there.
One would be hard-pressed to choose what the most cringe-worthy moment was. It may have been Alex Baldwin talking about how his orange Trump wig was the perfect form of birth control. It may have been what Lily Tomlin said when getting an award with her old “9 to 5” costars, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton. Just about everyone had something not so nice to say about the president.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ snaps up a lot of awards
It turned out that a Hulu adaptation of "The Handmaid’s Tale" an overwrought dystopian story of a future in which sex is all but banned, and women are oppressed worse than in the Islamic State won a much of awards.
Apparently, the story has a certain “relevance” because a retired libertine is in the Oval Office.
The ratings could not have been very good
As of this writing, the ratings for the Emmys award show are not in, but one can guess that they cannot be good. A football game (another television mainstay that is suffering because of the intrusion of politics) was on at the same time.
The second episode of the season of “Outlander” followed by “Fear the Walking Dead” was available as well.
Hollywood is following a remarkable strategy that involves alienating half of its potential audience. It may be driving away more since even Hillary voters must be sick of actors bloviating about politics. One can only wonder if the entertainment industry is going to get a clue about movie attendance and TV ratings being in a death spiral.
