Chapter 71: A Special Golden Globes
Chapter 71: A Special Golden Globes
ABC was broadcasting this year’s Golden Globe Awards live. The Home Alone crew’s entrance time was arranged after the Rain Man crew, which had the highest odds of winning. After receiving the reminder, Eric walked toward the red carpet with Drew on his arm.
Since some media had jokingly called it the awards ceremony with the sharpest business sense, the Golden Globes’ red carpet was confidently much stingier, only a stretch of a dozen meters or so. It could not compare at all to the Oscars’ red carpet, which was over two hundred meters long.
When they reached the media photo area, Drew, who had only been lightly holding Eric’s arm, changed her posture and leaned against him like a delicate little bird, letting the reporters take photos. The carefully selected Versace outfits made the two look very much like a couple.
The reporters in the media area showed excitement, and the frequency of camera flashes increased sharply. If this had not been the Golden Globes, these people might already have started asking about the relationship between the two. Eric had already become numb to Drew’s little schemes. The girl could always seize every chance to stir up something, while never quite touching his bottom line.
After taking photos, the two were supposed to enter the venue directly, but they were stopped by an ABC reporter and did a brief, harmless interview. The questions were all bland topics, such as how they felt attending the Golden Globes for the first time. Of course, ABC’s reporter would not ask anything sensitive. As long as Eric, the young miracle director currently at the height of attention, showed his face, it meant another wave of ratings.
After the interview, when they entered the venue, Eric casually glanced behind him. The Runkel couple were standing in the media area and were reminded by staff to leave because they had exceeded their time. Eric once again felt a trace of disapproval in his heart. That couple would ultimately never amount to much. Eric made up his mind to find time to talk with Little Stu. Stuart’s mind was much more mature than Macaulay Culkin’s had been in Eric’s previous life. Perhaps he could listen to Eric’s words and avoid being manipulated by his parents into going astray.
The Golden Globe Awards ceremony adopted the form of a formal banquet. The Home Alone crew was arranged at a table near the second row by the stage.
“Stu, come sit beside me,” Eric said, waving to Stuart after sitting down.
The boy glanced at his mother, stood up, and went around to Eric’s side. Faint displeasure appeared on the Runkel couple’s faces. With their son leaving their side, they definitely would not be able to benefit from any close-up shots later.
At exactly five o’clock, the awards ceremony officially began. Host Morgan Fairchild walked onto the stage.
“Good evening, all you poor people who were run in circles by a seven-year-old child.”
Her very first line was a tease aimed at Home Alone. Amid the laughter, the live broadcast camera quickly cut to Eric’s table. Eric smiled and waved at the camera, while Stuart widened his eyes innocently and looked at the lens with curiosity.
That expression immediately “angered” Morgan. “Hey, Little Stu, look at this shabby little gown I’m wearing. I prepared three long gowns. The first one was splashed with butter, the second was dyed black, and the last one was covered in feathers. Don’t you want to say something about that?”
Laughter rose again at the venue. Some people even showed expressions of deep sympathy. Quite a few stars with children were “victims” of Home Alone. Wherever Home Alone was released, children imitating Kevin’s pranks had already become a trend.
This time, Morgan did not wait for Stuart’s response and quickly shifted the topic elsewhere. “Okay, just kidding. Let’s see which stars are here tonight…”
Over the next five minutes, Morgan commented on and teased every nominated film one by one, but mentioned very few television dramas. Although the Golden Globes had been presenting television awards since 1956, television actors in this era did not have the confidence they would have more than twenty years later, when they could shout “We are stars!” at the Golden Globes. Even their seats were placed in corners that cameras rarely swept across.
Like many awards ceremonies, the Golden Globes began with less important awards. However, Eric only paid a small amount of attention to the stage. Only when a camera swept over did he switch to a proper seated posture with a smile. The rest of the time, he quietly talked with Stuart.
Stuart was someone Eric had personally discovered. The boy’s fate was already tied in countless ways to the glittering and noisy world of Hollywood.
Eric sincerely hoped that this intelligent boy could walk a relatively healthy acting path, unlike Drew before, or Macaulay Culkin in his previous life, who had gone astray.
Therefore, Eric patiently explained things Stuart needed to pay attention to in the entertainment industry. Although the boy occasionally showed a confused expression, he listened very seriously the entire time. With Stu’s IQ, although many things could not be understood in a short period of time, firmly remembering them was not a problem.
As time passed, Eric finally heard a nomination related to one of his films, so he stopped talking and turned his attention toward the stage.
Susan Sarandon had received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Back to 17. The other nominees were Sigourney Weaver from Working Girl, Lena Olin from The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Barbara Hershey from The Last Temptation of Christ, and Diane Venora from Bird.
Eric remembered that in his previous life, the person who won this award was Sigourney Weaver. The reason he remembered it was because, in the original timeline, the 46th Golden Globe Awards had been the most special one in Golden Globes history. Not only had three Best Actress – Drama winners been produced at once, but Sigourney Weaver also became the first actress in Golden Globe history to win both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress in the same year.
After the presenter introduced the nominated actresses, he opened the envelope under everyone’s expectant gazes, glanced at it, and leaned toward the microphone. “The winner is Sigourney Weaver, Working Girl.”
Applause rang out. Sigourney Weaver stood up excitedly, hugged the members of her crew one by one, then walked onto the stage. Nearby, Susan Sarandon showed a disappointed expression while smiling in response to everyone’s consolation.
Eric had long expected this result. Although both Back to 17 and Working Girl were films distributed by Fox, Back to 17 had already been released for nearly two months, while Working Girl had only been in theaters for three weeks. For the sake of box office results, Fox would certainly prioritize lobbying for Working Girl’s nominations.
As for how good Sigourney Weaver’s acting was, who cared?
While Eric was in New York, Working Girl happened to be released, and he and Aniston specially went to watch it. It was a standard chick flick, very similar to The Devil Wears Prada from his previous life. Both plots followed a workplace rookie gradually changing herself under the guidance of a harsh female superior and completing various transformations.
Compared with Meryl Streep in Prada, who fully portrayed the severity, harshness, cold arrogance, and perfectionism of Runway magazine editor-in-chief Miranda, the female superior played by Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl really did not have any visible highlights. When people saw her performance, the only thought they probably had was still “the Alien queen.”
After figuring this out, Eric became even less hopeful about Home Alone’s two nominations. Clearly, the Golden Globes results were heavily influenced by lobbying. That the supporting actresses from two master-directed works like The Last Temptation of Christ and Bird could not beat a commercial film was ironic no matter how one thought about it.
Moreover, Eric had never done any lobbying for Home Alone before. On one hand, he himself did not have those connections, and Columbia and CAA were even less likely to voluntarily do such things. On the other hand, even if he spent great effort to win awards, the impact on Home Alone’s box office would be negligible. What seven- or eight-year-old little brats cared whether a film won awards before watching it? Those influenced by awards and entering theaters were basically adults.