The 31st Annual Razzie Awards “dis-honored” the worst of the worst in showbiz Saturday night in L.A. This year The Last Airbender won Worst Picture and four other awards including Worst Eye-Gouging Misuse of 3-D.
M. Night Shyamalan was also dis-honored with Worst Director and Worst Screenplay for The Last Airbender. Worst Actor this year went to Ashton Kutcher for his work in Killers and Valentine’s Day. The Worst Actress award went to the popular foursome of Sex in the City 2; Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon. That film also garnered the Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel of 2010 award.
For years, the bestowing of the Golden Raspberry at the Razzie Awards on the eve of Oscars night has left puffed-up celebrities deflated. Earning the gold spray-painted raspberry means you or your film has qualified as the worst in film achievement. In recent years, some celebrities with the embarrassing honor of earning an award have actually showed up to collect it. This doesn’t always happen, understandably. Sandra Bullock went in person to accept her Razzie last year for her performance in All About Steve. Before her Bill Cosby, Halle Berry and Ben Affleck have gone in person to pick up their statuettes and endure the “razzing.”
Unlike the elite voting pool of the Academy Awards (only the members of the AMPAS get a say in what movies the world reveres), the public at large is invited to nominate and vote on the worst crap on film. Of course there is a small fee to become a member of the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation, but no credentials necessary.
The Razzies aren‘t broadcast on TV yet, but the spoof awards ceremony has grown in popularity (second only to the Oscars in international attention, according to Razzie creator John Wilson). And why, you may ask, do the Razzies exist? Wilson’s quote from the Razzie website may phrase it best, “The RAZZIES were created in 1980 as a logical antidote to Tinsel Town’s annual glut of self-congratulatory awards.”
Amen!