The 2020 Golden Globes created a firestorm on social media last week, not because of controversial award winners, but because of Ricky Gervais’ opening monologue. In his final time hosting the Golden Globes, Gervais, a millionaire celebrity, spent seven minutes ridiculing millionaire celebrities for speaking about politics, by lecturing about politics himself.
His self-satisfying tirade was admittedly very funny. Unfortunately, however, it was immediately co-opted by right-wing pundits like Charlie Kirk as protest against Hollywood’s liberal leanings. Not only did Gervais’ monologue lack all the self-awareness of Elon Musk claiming his favorite film of the year was Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite, it also, almost definitely by mistake, made extremely strong leftist points throughout.
The monologue included points about corporate greed and class solidarity. He bashed stars for taking roles with companies who profit off unjust labor in foreign countries and condemned them for preaching to working-class people about politics. Gervais is correct on both fronts; millionaire producers and celebrities have no place telling Americans how to vote when many are reluctant to back their words up by donating and mobilizing for the candidates they should support. Despite Gervais being correct, the right-wing cosign he received seems misplaced, as these ideas align more with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren’s platforms than Donald Trump’s.
By identifying with Gervais’ points, those pundits remove critical thinking from the equation and inflame the ugliest aspects of media. It’s easy to point out Gervais’ jokes about Greta Thurnberg and diversity to see the underlying political leanings at hand. But it requires more effort to listen to the overarching philosophy put forth and understand where it aligns on the political spectrum. Right-wing pundits like Kirk aren’t encouraging their base to listen to what he’s saying and form their own thoughts. Instead they put forth the least complex aspects of the monologue and claim ownership over his ideas.
That is common practice for the GOP in general and has deep-rooted and complex causes. It’s not uncommon for poor and working-class white voters to vote against their own interests under the guise of opposing big government. It would make sense for most working-class Americans to be in favor of large social-safety net programs and high taxes for the rich, but that’s not the case. Gervais’ monologue is just another example of how social issues can be used to cloud judgement around economic inequality and oppression.
Companies like The Daily Wire and PragerU claim to operate as news organizations despite their very obvious bias. To achieve their goals, it’s much easier to pit working-class whites against progressives by inflaming social issues rather than addressing broad economic inequality. Sadly, because of this, Gervais’ ideas, and others, will never be challenged. They will continue to fall into the right-wing echo chamber, and that’s where they’ll remain.
Noah Wright is a junior studying strategic communication at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Noah? Tweet him @NoahCampaign.
