Columns, Opinion

MOOTS: The Razzie Awards Deserve A Place In Hollywood

Among the many award shows that happened this past weekend, one was glossed over by the mainstream media. Overshadowed by the 87th Academy Awards and the 30th Independent Spirit Awards, “The Golden Raspberry Awards,” affectionately known as “the Razzies,” took place in the Ricardo Montalban Theater in the heart of Hollywood on Saturday night. Celebrating the worst films of the year, it has become a counter-mainstream award show that goes against the pageantry of the Academy Awards and other such shows.

The “winners” of this year’s Razzies include Kirk Cameron’s “Saving Christmas” for Worst Picture, Michael Bay for Worst Director and Kirk Cameron and His Ego for Worst On-Screen Couple. The Razzies allow for shaming of what the voting body believe are the worst films of the year. This has led to a debate on whether the award show is a comedic criticism of the money-grubbing films produced through Hollywood or just people throwing insults trying to get attention from the film industry.

There are so many award shows celebrating the best movies of the year — including the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the Independent Spirit Awards among others — that an award show doing the exact opposite is warranted. Hollywood produces so many films that do not have any reason for being made besides for making money, and these are the films the Razzies often pick apart. Movies such as “Transformers: Age of Extinction” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” which traded cinematic integrity for profit, were among the winners this year.

The Golden Raspberry Awards hand out awards in many of the same categories as the Oscars and Independent Spirit Awards, except for the technical awards. This year, Cameron went home with the worst actor award, Cameron Diaz was awarded the Worst Actress award and Kirk Cameron’s “Saving Christmas” got Worst Screenplay. It also adds in awards such as worst screen couple, worst remake, rip-off or sequel, and the Redeemer award — a new award given out to an actor or actress who was recently recognized at the Razzies but has moved on to bigger things.

The Razzies rarely take themselves seriously for this reason. They know they are thought of as a joke among the Hollywood elite. In fact, the “winners” of the awards, who choose to accept the awards in person, agree. Sandra Bullock, who accepted the Worst Actress award in 2010, gave a comical deadpan speech about how, of all the nominees, she thinks her performance was not the worst and gave all attendees a copy of the movie she was nominated for. Halle Berry, Worst Actress winner of 2004 for “Catwoman,” brought along her Oscar to prove to the audience she could indeed act and then blamed Warner Bros. Entertainment for making the movie in the first place.

On the opposite side, though, some independent films may have deserved to be nominated more than some of the ones that were. The Razzies only call out the big name films that people would recognize. This is one of the biggest factors that make people discredit the awards as shameless cries for attention. Others claim that because it is not a requirement for the voters to view all of the films nominated, the awards are really more of a public unpopularity contest than an award show. The award show focuses more on comedy than the awards. And furthermore, the Golden Raspberry Academy only requires members pay a $40 initiation fee, which leads to many of the members not being experts of the field as all other major award show academies do.

Despite all this, the Razzies serve as a good outlet for those who are fed up with the snootiness of Hollywood. They call the major studios out when they mess up, but they do not criticize the independent films that have no budget compared to the Hollywood films.

Considering the Razzies do not actually change how the films made are perceived, it does not really matter who they choose. They are not hurting the films any worse than the filmmakers who made them did. The entire point of the Golden Raspberry Awards is to make jokes about the cinematic world, so what does it matter if they are picking on films and celebrities to draw attention to themselves? The critique of the Razzies is exactly why the Razzies are what Hollywood needs. They showcase what can happen to filmmaking by giving up artistic integrity to make money. We don’t need another award show that celebrates the greatness of spectacular films. We need one that humors the worst films of the year.

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