Red carpet treatment can make you see red
The red carpet interview segment that launches media circuses such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards evokes a strong, yet mixed reaction in me. On the one hand, I love films, truly I do. I revel in the feeling that transpires when a film ends and I need to reorient myself to the movie theatre I'm in because I've been transported to another place. I also respect the talent of directors and actors who ply their craft with integrity in order to realize their artistic vision.
That said, I am not a fan of what the S.A.G. soiree represents—just one more instalment in the movie awards season—which, incidentally, has become an industry unto itself.
In early January, movie fans are launched into the television airspace occupied by the glitterati during the People's Choice Awards, and are soon thereafter ushered to the Golden Globes. Right on cue follow award galas for the Directors Guild, the Producers Guild, and the aforementioned Screen Actors Guild—all this en route to the mother of all award shows, the Academy Awards.
If it was only Oscar night we had to contend with I'd feel much better. I am shell shocked, however, by the relentless barrage of recognition events that the movie industry imposes on us. Such red carpet bombing has fashioned a crater of self-indulgence out of which it's not easy to climb.
An enormous collective ego is required to bring a cliché like "red carpet treatment" to life in such circumstances. Television networks, our Canadian counterparts included, dispatch entertainment anchors to stake their territory on the carpet and sift through celebrities, all the while panning for that golden nugget quote which will provide lustre for their network's feature story. Quotations of substance, however, are very difficult to mine when the likes of Mary Hart and Ben Mulroney, prattle on at length about boas, belts and bustiers. Could we be any more superficial than that?
While I'd like to point my finger at "the industry" for foisting this constant navel-gazing and eye-in-the-mirror mindset on us, the truth is that the Hollywood star-making machine is only responding to the demand of its viewing public. We are the ones who buy the movie mags, order the entertainment cable packages and line up for hours to catch a glimpse of an actor. If actors and celebrities are falling in love with their own reflections like Narcissus of the ancient Greek myth, we must assume some responsibility for reflecting back to them more than their actual size.
With that said, however, there is one red carpet scene that I deem utterly unforgettable; you can find it in the heart of the movie Life is Beautiful (1998). Roberto Benigni's character is smitten with a beautiful schoolteacher (whom he calls Princess), and he offers her a ride in the pouring rain after an opera performance. To entice her he seizes a large bolt of luxurious red cloth and sends it cascading down a wide set of stairs to the door of his dilapidated car. Such a gallant offer is impossible to refuse and the magic of that moment defines their on-screen romance.
The extravagance of that red carpet gesture captures my imagination because it was selfless and intended for an audience of one. Perhaps the movie industry could take a lesson from that and roll out the red carpet for its individual fans instead of its own self-congratulating ego.
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