Before he was the snarky, charismatic superstar we all know and love, Robert Downey, Jr. had fallen out of the public’s favor. After rising to fame at a young age, the actor struggled with drug addiction and reckless behavior. Ricky Gervais struck a low blow by reminding the audience of Downey’s troubled past.
Angelina Jolie has a huge family with children adopted from all over the world. Some see it as generosity, while others view it as a publicity stunt. Ricky Gervais took it as an opportunity to make a joke, which was a pretty audacious move for his first time hosting the show. I guess the producers didn’t mind, since he has been asked back three more times.
Ricky Gervais really has no limits. He will do an entire bit about how pointless this ceremony is, culminating with him joking (hopefully) about sticking the award that he’s won up his own anus. (" ... one I keep by the bed 'cause…doesn't matter why. It's mine. I won it fair and square. It is just the right shape and size. So, to be clear, that was a joke about me shoving Golden Globes, that I've won, up my #*%. And they asked me to host four times!") At the very least, it is direct about exactly how seriously he take the event from the very moment he comes out on stage.
This joke seemed to catch many people off guard, as the celebrity reference wasn’t as recent as most of his others. Roman Polanski was one of the most esteemed directors in Hollywood before he was arrested for the rape of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer. Somewhere in Switzerland, Polanski is not amused by the remark.
Everyone knows that the Golden Globes are the “fun” awards show. Attendees are given alcohol, so they often make comments which are outrageous, taking away the prestige of other awards shows, such as the Oscars. Gervais uses this to take a personal shot (albeit a funny one) at the trending celebrity.
The Tourist received more nominations than it deserved in 2011, which was made even more clear when allegations of the Hollywood Foreign Press taking bribes on the film’s behalf began to surface. By using this bit, Gervais proved that nothing was off limits ... even the validity of the show he was currently hosting!
Gervais was reading from the list of banned topics, which included Mel Gibson, who had recently gotten in trouble again for putting his foot in his mouth. Gervais made a pun about Gibson’s latest film The Beaver, which also starred Jodie Foster, but things got very gross very quickly. Foster was, however, unphased by his remarks.
Mocking Jeffrey Tambor's appearance in Transparent, Gervais went on to say, "They are huge and long. I don't know if he tucked them in the bra or does that thing when you push them out the back and let them hang out, like a bulldog? No one knows." You never thought you would know so much about Tambor’s testicles. It seemed like Ricky Gervais was never going to stop talking about them, going into gruesome detail about their appearance. Tambor looked a little peeved, but he was definitely a good sport about the whole ordeal.
