Jodie Foster at the Golden Globe Awards
Jodie Foster at the Golden Globe Awards
Before I speak about Jodie Foster, I wanted to tell you what I believed happened with Lincoln, the movie. The Golden Globe means interest around the globe, I am sure the entire world is not interested in President Lincoln, although I believe as a movie it was top, given the award, the right movie won.
Now the Oscar is a different story and another subject. I was pleased that the best actor in a movie would be the actor who played the famous character of Lincoln.
Was Jodie Foster trying to charm the audience, receive more attention, or be part of a producer’s “to-do” list, because if she was trying to tell the public about her private life, we all knew about it – right?
The most touching part – her words to her mother who passed. Yes, that personal touch was well worth the time it took to deliver.
After the award ceremony, Jodie mentioned she would take anything put in front of her. A strange speech, from a smart and charming actor, accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award – she made it sound like, this is it folks and I am out of here – it is now over.
Instead of being thankful for those who choose her for her past work, she made it into a speech that would catch headlines, and the network I was watching omitted the entire speech, leaving it to be even more mysterious.
Was it directed directly at Mel Gibson as she said, for saving her? She is single, okay, so what. She skips to her fake, end of career speech, and flips to another subject, her mother who passed. She explained she never shared everything with her.
Those words alone are not surprising, for a child actress who probably spent most of her time on the set or with her agent, especially during those years, how would any toddler know what to say to their mother? What in the world did this have to do with her award?
Okay, writers, dreamers, actors, etc., we can all find a reason for anything we say or do, but this was being monitored as if they were warned – seldom does a big winner get clipped during their speech. If Jodie still wanted that privacy, she should have been a cupcake baker instead of an actress and I can’t see her as a baker after a fabulous life in show business.
You see an actress winning such an honor as the Cecil B. DeMille award which was the big award of the evening, had to be a little off the wall, even giving the fact she was proud of her age when she yelled out 50!!! I felt it was in poor taste to think the young ’50s ’60s and ’70s etc. of the day are not users of walkers but remember actresses are kept pretty busy, and they are pretending most of the time.
Perhaps she is searching for a new role as a woman living in a nursing home, using a walker who walks around the complex during the night talking to her mother?
When a famous actor, (remember she called herself an actress – properly she is an actor) but who cares – comes on stage to announce he or she is really, really done, they are in search of bigger and better things. N
ow she knows she made a hit at the Golden Globe on Sunday night and is awaiting the parties and offers after the formal re-introduction. Perhaps someone who has been in the business for such a long time can be frustrated but we know, Jodie Foster will never give up her life, lifestyle, or career, I am sure there is another award standing on the sidelines just waiting for her. For sure she will make Saturday Night Live.
Oh, she has been in the film business for 47 years, and I am sure it will be easy to find on the web. I must admit, most children stars do not hang in there as long as Jodie, she had to have one of the best publicists in the business, and an agent who went out kicking. Once she proved herself there was no turning back.
She also mentioned how intimate it is to share movies together, as she continued to ask for support from her peers. She kept asking questions and received no quick answers from the crowd, perhaps this was her intention. Was her quote, “thank you for the enthusiasm” because no one answered her questions? Right? Right?
The onward to coming out – didn’t we hear that before? Right? She repeated that her family is her co-workers, using different words with the same meaning. And she wanted us to believe she was and is a private person – and who is Honey Boo Boo’s child. All I could think of was To Kill a Mockingbird and Scout.
She may have been approached for a part in a reality show, and she said, “It would be so boring.” Well if she kept repeating herself, and made those in the theatre and those watching feel awkward by her speech, I wouldn’t want her in real life either. She is far from a person with which her expertise is comedy lines.
I really think if she took so much time telling us the same thing, working it out in different ways, she would have made a better award winner with clear, concise speech without juggling around like a member of the circus.
Jodie certainly did not want privacy last night. The following statement was probably her best from the entire time she stood on the stage:
“Someday, in the future, people will look back and remember how beautiful it once was. I have given everything up there from the time that I was 3-years-old. That’s reality-show enough, don’t you think? There are a few secrets to keeping your psyche intact over such a long career. The first, love people and stay beside them.” by Jodie
And this:
“That table over there, 222, way out in Idaho, Paris, Stockholm, that one, next to the bathroom with all the unfamous faces, the very same faces for all these years. My acting agent, Joe Funicello — Joe, do you believe it, 38 years we’ve been working together? Even though he doesn’t count the first eight. Matt Saver, Pat Kingsley, Jennifer Allen, Grant Niman and his uncle Jerry Borack, may he rest in peace. Lifers.
My family and friends here tonight and at home, and of course, Mel Gibson. You know you save me too.” by Jodie
If you recall she began with a thank you to those important in her world, a tribute, from the deepest loves of her life to the ski buddy, and co-parent, remember, she is single. It went like this:
“There is no way I could ever stand here without acknowledging one of the deepest loves of my life, my heroic co-parent, my ex-partner in love but righteous soul sister in life, my confessor, ski buddy, consigliere, most beloved BFF of 20 years, Cydney Bernard. Thank you, Cyd. I am so proud of our modern family. Our amazing sons, Charlie and Kit, who are my reason to breathe and to evolve, my blood and soul.
And boys, in case you didn’t know it, this song, all of this, this song is for you. This brings me to the greatest influence of my life, my amazing mother, Evelyn. Mom, I know you’re inside those blue eyes somewhere and that there are so many things that you won’t understand tonight.” by Jodie
“But this is the only important one to take in: I love you, I love you, I love you. And I hope that if I say this three times, it will magically and perfectly enter into your soul, fill you with grace and the joy of knowing that you did good in this life. You’re a great mom.” by Jodie
The last lines hit home for many who listened in person or through the screen at home. It was semi typical but it began to choke some of the others when she said I love you, three times, and she looked into her eyes, and I understand that comment, having had a mother pass when I was very young.
I guess it takes loving, sharing, and being yourself – but not repeating time and time again – I wonder how many small plates filled with crackers she had before her speech? I heard the dinner wasn’t as expected.
Superb article. I love the way you write.
I would have to be paid to watch the Golden Globe Awards. I find myself still lost in the 30’s and 40’s era of film. When you watch someone like James Cagney in White Heat 1947, or Public Enemy 1930, you start to look at the magic of old cinema. There is also Thief Of Bagdad 1941ish which was made in Bagdad too. Such imagination. Woody Allen’s movie Midnight in Paris had that same pull. How many times can you watch Batman? Or James Bond? Successful actors today have publicity agents, earn big money, but lack that pull. I feel they promote mediocrity because something original would be seen as top secret. Nancy, if you feel these days are bad, then watch Roaring Twenties with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. I look forward to your review of Roaring Twenties.
Mac – Thank you so much for those kind words, you made my day. Sincerely, Nancy
What is so wonderful for people today, here in America at most Libraries, we have the old films on DVD and you and I can view them, plus students of film. I recall the black and white films, and because of those films and black and white photos I have been a lover of old photographs. You may have notice some of my collection on my timeline in the past.
Regarding the movies back in the days, the actors were few and far between and they were the chosen few and always received the best parts. Movies did not take up an entire library like they do today. We have great movies today that some never get a chance to view.
Thanks Jack, as always. Sincerely, Nancy