the Depp Effect

At the weekend I watched the MTV Movie Awards, and marvelled at how low the awards show has fallen. At one point it was the satirical edgy ceremony that appreciated the value of popular entertainment cinema, which the higher brow awards often ignored.

Now, it’s just a way to promote summer movies. Mike Myers was the host this year, and didn’t do a bad job, but how can you elevate a show in which every presenter pimps his or her latest film or DVD? It’s sheer bad taste masquerading as amusing self-mockery. It’s an event bankrupt of credibility or class.

Even the fun “bits” are tainted. Again, each one was about promoting a film, where in the past they lampooned the movies. The best one was Iron Man vs Kung Fu Panda vs Tropic Thunder, but it’s hard to go wrong with Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. All three were on top form, even if it was all about selling their movies.

What was most interesting was watching the Depp Effect in action. Johnny Depp won both Best Comedic Performance (for Captain Jack Sparrow) and Best Villain (for Sweeney Todd). He accepted the awards in his shy, rather inarticulate, manner while women in the audience swooned and the crowd went wild. The man is legend.