It Shows Who's Boss

The 2012 Golden Globes Awards are now history. Ricky Gervais was positively tame, and barely used, so it was disappointing. But I did come away with two observations.

First, Julianne Moore, presenting with Rob Lowe, flubbed her lines. We’re talking about a professional actress and maybe 20 seconds of dialog, and she couldn’t manage because her teleprompter stalled. I’m guessing this is one reason Hollywood stars are so forgiving of Barack Obama.

Second, look for a moment at the “Best TV Series, Drama,” category. It included “American Horror Story” on FX; “Boardwalk Empire” and “Game of Thrones” on HBO; “Boss” on Starz; and the winning “Homeland” on Showtime.

That is, no nominee for best TV Drama Series was produced for the public. All were produced for cable. In today’s America, there is a digital divide, so the saying goes. If you want to watch good drama, you have to pay for it.

The Hollywood elite have no problem with this model. They make money off this model. But apply the same model to healthcare and they’re outraged. Hollywood never cries that “All Americans deserve equal access to drama.” They have no qualms about producing a product the relatively well off can access immediately at the theatres and on cable while the relatively poor have to wait months for video rental.

Though their work puts many of them well into the 0.1%, they don’t feel their field should be regulated to help the poor, not even access to Nurse Jackie. Doctors, seldom in the 1%, our work routinely misrepresented on TV shows, are chastised for setting up cable equivalents known as concierge medicine, even as cable sweeps the drama awards at the Golden Globe. 

Truly, an American Horror Story...