THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT...

I don`t know about you but I`m getting a bit fed up with all these self-congratulatory award ceremonies.   We`ve had the BAFTAs, the BIFFAs, the EMMYs, the MOBOs and last night we had the OSCARs.   And this morning the television news seems to be dominated by the Oscars and the extravagant `parties` that followed, with the BBC once again showing all the restraint and moderation one has come to expect from an organisation that runs out of ideas as to how to squander other people`s cash.   

Now I`m not sure I have a problem with giving awards to people for outstanding work in all forms of life but there are a couple of objections I have to this latest crop of self-serving bunfights.   One is that they ring a little hollow as their excesses seem very out of place in the harsh economic times in which we live and the other is that, if you`re going to have awards, then make sure they go to the right people.   

There are a whole host of professionals working dilligently behind the scenes to turn these films into box office hits, so why not Oscars for Best Boy of the Year, Key Grip, Dolly Grip, Clapper Loader, Colour Timer, Foley Artist, Boom Operator and all the others  - you only have to sit through the credits at the end of any film to see just how many people it takes before tinsel town`s luvvies can stand up clutching their trophies and gushing all over us.


But I guess it was forever thus - pygmies on the backs of giants and all that - and in the end, like politics, at least these ceremonies have the unintended virtue of giving me something else to grumble about.


Thank you and goodnight.