Over the years the Razzies have allowed some of Hollywood’s greatest actors to poke fun at their own dubious acting choices. Having spent many years being a light-hearted “anti-Oscars” spectacle that has over the years seen the likes of Halle Berry and Sandra Bullock actually turn up to accept their “accolade” in person, the last couple of years has seen the event turning a little sour thanks to some new information that has shed light on award nominations that were perhaps not deserved. Now a new controversy has arisen thanks to this year’s Worst Actress category including Firestarter’s Ryan Kiera Armstrong, even though she was only eleven at the time of filming the Stephen King movie.Last year was not a great year for the Golden Raspberry Awards’ public perception. First up was the decision to create a one-off category just for Bruce Willis, whose long list of straight-to-video titles were included for Worst Performance by Bruce Willis. The actor’s subsequent retirement due to his Aphasia diagnosis saw the Razzie’s apologizing for the creation of the category in light of the new information, and the award was dropped. Similarly, due to new details being revealed about the filming of The Shining, Shelly Duvall had her historical Razzie for Worst Actress canceled by the organizers.This year there is no historical context needed, and no way for the Razzies to be seen as anything other than brutally mean-spirited according to many on social media for nominating Armstrong as Worst Actress. The announcement of the nominations has renewed calls for the “outdated” event to be put to bed for good. You can see some of the reactions below.
Who Else has Been Nominated At This Year’s Awards?
There are plenty of big names nominated for this year’s Razzie Awards, with two-times Oscar-winner Tom Hanks being nominated for Worst Actor for his role as Gepetto in Disney’s live-action Pinocchio remake and Worst Supporting Actor for playing Colonel Tom Parker in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. Also on the receiving end are Sylvester Stallone, yet again, for his role in Samaritan, Bryce Dallas Howard for Jurassic World: Dominion, movie veteran Diane Keaton for Mack & Rita and least surprising of all, Jared Leto for Morbius.
When it comes to Leto, Morbius is one of the movies that has found itself nominated in many categories, and is possibly the most deserving reason for the Razzies to actually still exist. The film has landed nominations in the Worst Director, Screenplay, Supporting Actress and Picture categories. Another movie to get the same attention is Netflix movie Blonde, which has found itself in pretty much every category other than Worst Actress, with Ana de Armas managing to avoid the Razzie’s shortlist.
Is time almost up for the Razzies? Possibly not, but in a time when social media opinion counts for a lot, the noise about their latest misstep could push the event towards its own extinction. Whether the organizers will be willing to rescind the nomination given to Firestarter’s Armstrong is yet to be seen, but that decision could be a big factor in their ability to navigate around their latest controversial move.