Hollywood again illustrates its lack of moral judgement

from The Gray Area:

Hollywood is operating irresponsibly once again and sending a great message to the TV viewers who will watch the 65th Emmy Awards September 22nd.

The producers have chosen to use an “In Memoriam” section honoring those who have died this past year, with 5 special tributes interspersed throughout the telecast to honor a chosen 5 of those dearly departed. Those selected for special treatment are James Gandolfini; Jean Stapleton; Jonathan Winters; Family Ties producer Gary Goldberg (Michael J. Fox) and Corey Monteith. Corey Monteith of Glee.

The idea of selecting a few for special poshumous honors is certainly a choice they can make, and it may even end up being a very good way to handle the always criticized segment of the show. And, certainly no matter which 5 the producers chose, there would be some people criticizing their choices. But how could they decide that, Monteith, the former Glee star who died at age 31 of a drug overdose, merited “being elevated” in this fashion?

“By putting Monteith in this elite group, the Academy is risking having its honorable intentions misconstrued by using the actor’s memory to cater to the younger audiences that are in decreasingly short supply for award shows these days,” Variety digital editor-in-chief Andrew Wallenstein wrote in part.

They could certainly include his picture in an overall montage of actors who passed away, but to make a special honor of a drug addict who killed himself with an overdose?!?

What a great message for the age group they are targeting – use drugs, overdose, die and get recognized for your special 5 year career.

Wallenstein also mentioned the omission of Larry Hagman, who died at age 81. “Monteith could have gone on to a tremendous career, but Larry Hagman, for instance, already had a tremendous career.”

Veteran producer Ken Ehrlich, who’s presiding over his sixth Emmy telecast, made it clear that he made the call on the chosen few.

“In all candor, this becomes a producer’s option,” he said, Including Monteith “was a rather personal choice,” he said in response to another questioner.

“At 31 he passed away under very tragic circumstances,” Ehrlich added, and perhaps “meant as much” to a younger generation as the likes of Stapleton and Winters.

So the message is if you are old, and you die, no young people know who you are or what you did, so who cares? You are just old, not relevant any longer. So instead of honoring your long, impactful career and letting the younger audience learn something and gain a little respect for those who came before, let’s honor a drug addict, that’s more relevant!

My only hope is that Jane Lynch, who will be doing the Monteith honrarium, will focus on his drug use, his bad choices, his wasted potential and not his career accomplishments or try to justify his addiction or excuse it as a disease so that it looks like it is not his fault. Only then will Hollywood pull a useful message out of this sham.

Read the entire story from Uncle Barky:

Uncle Barky writes: “Still, it’s all very puzzling if not insulting. And CBS, should be ashamed of itself“!

We couldn’t agree more. But, sadly typical of today’s Hollywood culture – poor judgement – poor messaging – no adults in charge. Please do better.