Is it really a surprise the Razzies are now picking on children? The Razzies came under a tidal wave of criticism for nominating a 12-year-old girl for their Worst Actress category for this years’ 2023 Razzie Awards.
Let me just say this right off the bat: I don’t like the Razzie Awards, and I never will.
Not only does the entire production of the Razzies feel sleezy and grimy, but it also is unnecessarily mean and disrespectful towards the actors, producers, directors, writers, etc. it nominates for its Golden Raspberry awards. Obviously, it’s fine to criticize and bemoan terrible movies, T.V. shows, and performances as that is the only way Hollywood will know what works with the fans and what doesn’t, but the Razzies don’t just “criticize” their nominees.
It’s designed to humiliate them.
Take Bruce Willis for example. The Razzies infamously decided it would be a great idea to create an entire category just for the actor’s performances in 2021 as he starred in obviously bad, low-quality movies, while putting in equally subpar performances. Clearly, to be as famous and successful as an actor as Bruce Willis and put in such bad performances, one should have realized something was off.
And, of course, something was off as Bruce Willis later revealed that he was diagnosed with the neurological medical condition Aphasia, which affects one’s ability to speak, communicate, read, and write. In the Razzies’ defense, they did rescind the award and dissolve the category all together, but such mockery wasn’t warranted in the first place.
The occasional joke and gag about Willis’ acting range is fine, but, at least in my opinion, these awards are unnecessary and serve no other purpose than to insult the actor/film makers, rather than offering constructive criticism.
And the same goes for Halle Berry and Sandra Bullock when they accepted their Razzies. Sure, it was their choice to go to the award show and accept the award in person, but it’s really quite degrading when one looks at it in hindsight. Especially for Halle Berry as she genuinely seemed hurt as she brought her Academy Award to accept her Razzie Award, a clear sign of her trying to prove her worth (for which she is very talented) as an actress.
Maybe I’m overreacting a little bit with how impactful the Razzies really are, but I can’t help it when I see little girls now being dragged through the mud with Worst Actress nominations.
For those who don’t know, 12-year-old actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong was recently nominated by the Razzies for their Worst Actress category for her performance in Firestarter, even though she’s only a child. Clearly, burying a child’s career with such a nomination isn’t the right thing to do, and people were justifiable upset with the Razzie members decision to vote for Armstrong’s name on the final ballot.
Thankfully, just like in the Bruce Willis case, the Razzies heard the backlash and made the right decision in taking Armstrong’s name off the list and promised to introduce an age limit for future nominations. Case closed, right?
Well, no, as some people are trying to say that this nomination was “bullying”, “hateful”, and “wrong”, and that is equally wrong to accuse the Razzies of doing. Yes, it was dumb to nominate a 12-year-old girl, who admittedly didn’t have the best of performances in a dreadful movie (to put it mildly), but accusing the Razzies of bullying and being hateful is just as dumb.
I’m sure they were trying to humiliate the movie crew, which would include Armstrong along with everyone else involved, with the Razzie nominations, but they were not being hateful towards the girl. Just callous and unnecessarily mean…as they are with everyone else.
Okay, that’s enough talk about the Razzies and their dumb nominations. I don’t feel like giving them anymore airtime than necessary.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Universal Pictures) (Firestarter – Official Trailer – YouTube)
