Award shows have gone too far
Award shows are the kudzu of television.
Like the invasive vine that’s quickly devouring the American south, they seem to be spreading ever faster across television listings.
They uproot decent shows and destroy the fertility of the land, annually robbing more intellectually fulfilling programs, like salad dicer infomercials, of precious time slots.
The subject matter itself doesn’t mean squat – so obviously we should have a vote and give the best widget-maker a pile of broken glass glued to a board.
One of the more egregious examples is the Spike Video Game Awards.
I don’t necessarily agree with Roger Ebert’s long-held and much-debated opinion that video games should not be considered art.
But as a gamer myself, I felt like a significantly worse person after viewing the first VGAs in 2003.
Any hopes I had of games elevating themselves above the realm of schlocky war shooters featuring marvelously thick necked protagonists who grunt focus-group derived “urbanisms” over the sound of gunfire is continually shattered by that program.
A never ending lineup of clueless, yet attractive, celebrities spout off about how many “newbs” they have “pwned” on the “internet.”
By the time they turn the microphone over to any figure with actual significance to the gaming industry, he or she is obviously so uncomfortable to be there that they can at best power through their lines in a desperate bid to return to a world of reason.
What’s the point? What is gained from this or any of the numerous other hedonistic tributes to overpriced entertainment?
Well, now we know that “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” was a better film than “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” according to the Nickelodeon viewers of North America.
Oh. Good.
