Foreign Legion
As one of two members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. (HFPA) who files for Australian publications, I’m not sure whether to be amused or dismayed at Howard Rosenberg’s reference to “the Aussie [HFPA member] who specializes in gossip” (“Everywhere You Turn, It’s Been a Stupor Bowl Of Gimmickry,” Jan. 26).
It is not my colleague Jenny Cooney-Carrillo, who is the longtime correspondent for TV Week, Australia’s only weekly mass market magazine devoted entirely to show business. That leaves me. I freelance for various publications and my most recently published stories have been 2,500-word features on one of Hollywood’s most respected actors, Ed Harris, and Melissa George, an Australian actress in search of her big break here. Both appeared in a respected color supplement to the Sunday editions of the major newspapers the Herald-Sun (Melbourne) and the Telegraph (Sydney). Cooney-Carrillo and I are both full-time journalists, by the way.
As for the HFPA members Rosenberg described as “the Lithuanian tailor who strings for a weekly back home” and “the Moroccan limo driver who files a blurb every month or so,” sorry, but they’re a mystery to me as well.
LAWRIE MASTERSON
Santa Monica
*
By splitting almost everything up into “drama” and “comedy,” the Golden Globes basically have twice as many major categories as the Oscars. (Even in categories that are not split, the Globes accomplish the same thing by having more nominees than the Oscars do.)
This means that the Globes have twice the promotional value to the studios that the Oscars do, by creating a promotional buzz for movies that will not receive Oscar nominations. Don’t think the studios don’t know this, either. In their ads trumpeting Globe nominations, they always put “BEST PICTURE” or “BEST ACTRESS” in huge type, with “(comedy)” or “(drama)” often printed sideways in tiny print so that it is not seen by the reader.
The Golden Globes are nothing but a cynical attempt to prop up the movie industry during a slow month and to make mediocre films look like Oscar contenders that have to be seen by the public.
DILAN ESPER
Los Angeles
*
In a severely misguided letter to the editor on Jan. 27, Ken Johnson praised the Golden Globes (at the expense of the Oscars) for representing “diverse nationalities and cultures of the world.” Johnson should be advised that whereas the Oscars represent a diverse body of thousands of industry professionals, the Golden Globes are bestowed by a handful of aging quasi-journalists, most of whom don’t even work full-time.
It’s no secret that one’s chances for winning a Golden Globe increase exponentially in proportion to the free food, gifts and photo-ops granted to its members.
WADE MAJOR
Malibu
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The only thing this shadowy star chamber did right was take advantage of our celebrity-obsessed culture by getting NBC to air their awards show in prime time. Smart, to be sure, but that doesn’t mean our blood-stained world pulled together to give Kelsey Grammer an award.
MARK KEIZER
Los Angeles