Tuesday 15 January 2013

SHOWBIZEXTRA: Five reasons why Jodie Foster’s Golden Globe speech was totally insane

There was nothing inspirational about the actress’s rambling, sanctimonious rant

 Jodie Foster celebrates her victory at the Golden Globe. - Agencies


By ERICA PALAN

JODIE FOSTER looked incredible on Sunday night at the Golden Globes. The dress, the hair, the makeup, the Michelle Obama arms. Everything was visually stunning. 

And that’s the last nice thing I can say about her appearance. By now you’ve probably heard that she gave a notable acceptance speech for the Cecil B DeMile Lifetime Achievement Award.

In her almost-12-minutes-long speech, Foster touches on a lot of issues including her privacy, her sexuality, her dating status, her possible retirement from acting, her friendship with Mel Gibson, her hatred of reality television and her mother’s dementia. That’s a lot of feelings for an audience to digest. 

Daily News features writer Molly Eichel suggests you read the transcript in order to fully understand Foster’s intentions.

Admittedly, the speech seems more focused in print. Perhaps Foster’s nerves got the best of her, but her delivery lacked any of the professionalism viewers have to come to expect from a 47-year veteran of the entertainment industry. 

Her speech felt sloppy, petulant and rambling. In short, it seemed like the recipient of the most prestigious award of the evening had a total freaking meltdown on live television.

Let’s take a look at some of the reason Jodie Foster’s Golden Globes speech was bat-shit crazy:

1. Her sexuality: Though Foster did not officially come out, her sexuality is easily the worst kept secret in Hollywood. In 2008, her photo appeared on the cover of Out magazine and her former relationship with long-term partner Cydney Bernard was public knowledge. What makes her hokey, “I’m single!” declaration feel uncomfortable and cruel is that she set it up to be a public coming out, dangling something the gay community has been clamoring for for decades. Handled by a funnier speaker - Ellen Degeneres, for example - the joke would’ve worked. Instead, it fell flat.

2. Her privacy: Hamilton Nolan of Gawker does an excellent job explaining why celebrities - including Jodie Foster - have no right to expect privacy. I’ll give it to Foster that she was forced into the spotlight at a young age, but it was her decision to continue working in Hollywood as an adult. And let’s not even get into the utter hypocrisy of standing on the stage of a nationally televised awards to request privacy.

3. Her love of Mel Gibson: Look, we all have friends who sometimes do shitty things. Friends who embarrass us despite our eternal love for them. But to publicly support anti-Semitic woman beater Mel Gibson is more than a little off-putting and goes against her request for privacy. A piece of advice, Jodie: If you don’t want people to pay attention to you, don’t bring one of Hollywood’s most controversial celebrities as your date.

4. Her hatred of reality TV: “’I’m told, apparently that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance and a prime-time reality show. You know, you guys might be surprised, but I am not Honey Boo Boo Child. No, I’m sorry, that’s just not me. It never was and it never will be. Please don’t cry because my reality show would be so boring,” Foster preached. Of all the reality stars in all the universe, why Foster needed to pick on an eight-year-old girl - who is not the one choosing to be on television - is beyond me. Hate on the Kardashians. Hate on Snookie. Hate on Honey Boo Boo’s money-grubbing mother. But leave the little girl out of it.

5. Her tone: One of the reasons that reading Foster’s speech helps clarify her intentions is that you don’t have to hear any of her haughty, self-important inflections. Instead of acting grateful for the recognition for her body of work, Foster came across as a sanctimonious, unthankful, bitter woman. And because of it, she lost at least one fan. – ThePhillyPost









No comments:

Post a Comment