The Oscars, Golden Globes, Emmy’s, Tony’s — I love watching them all. Whether it’s movies, TV, music or theater, there’s just something about seeing your favorite stars all glammed up, interacting together and being awarded for what they do best and for what we love watching them do. Whether it’s listening to the hosts’ corny pre-written jokes, watching the live performances or taking a drink every time a star’s speech gets prematurely cut off by the musical cue, these award shows are always a blast to watch.
However, there is one aspect of it all that I believe receives too much attention and that is the fashion aspect. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing the hot-or-not game and being my own judge on which stars look attractive and which stars look atrocious, but in the grand scheme of things, I think it has been taken way too far. And the culprit leading it all: Giuliana Rancic.
AP Photo / Chris Pizzello
Of course, I don’t know her personally, so I have nothing against her as a person, but everything she represents is exactly what grinds my gears.
Before each given award show, there is always up to an hour or even two of airtime wasted on her begging the stars to share who designed their looks for the evening: from the dress or suit all the way to the abominable “mani cam,” which, for those who are unfamiliar, is a machine belonging to the E! Network that’s only purpose is to get a close-up of female celebrities’ fingers walking down a miniature red carpet so that the world can see just how fancy their fingernails are.
Disclaimer: I absolutely love doing my nails. I love doing my friends’ nails. I love it so much, that sometimes I’ll even redo my nails more than once in one day. But to waste who knows how much money on the mani cam itself and about ten seconds of air time on each star who agrees to participate is to waste money that could be put to better use and minutes of our lives we will never get back.
Thank God for stars like Julianne Moore and Jennifer Aniston, who when asked to participate blatantly refused. And thank God extra for stars like Elisabeth Moss, who used the opportunity to flip off the camera! People watch these awards because they want to see who wins, because they want to support their favorites and because they might get to hear some behind-the-scenes info, not because their lives will cease to exist unless they find out exactly which shade of pink Taylor Swift decided to go with.
Furthermore, it’s as sexist as can be. And nobody says it better than Entertainment News writer John Boone in his article when he writes, “Actresses have long suffered endless questions about their outfits, their accessories, and now, apparently, what color fingernail polish they’re wearing to match their ‘bling,’ while their male cohorts are asked about the roles they’re nominated for and what the filming experience was like. Do we really need these grown women, who are being honored for their incredible work portraying Alzheimer’s patients, and drug addicts, and survivors, to make their fingers pretend to do a sexy walk down a fake red carpet?”
No, John, we sure don’t.
Becca Falk can be contacted at bfalk@kscequinox.com
