Do Golden Globes Have Greater Meaning?

Jan. 23 -- The glamour … The glory … And my aching feet.

Having just returned from the 60th annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles, I gaze out the window of my office down to the icy, potholed streets of New York City and think, "Shoot, back to reality."

After getting lost in the pageantry of it all and taking numerous jabs at Lara Flynn Boyle's hideous outfit (a ballerina tutu with high-heeled lace-up toe shoes), I am left to reflect on what it all means. What does life's fortune hold if you take home a Golden Globe statuette?

First of all, the Golden Globes are fun. At other shows, you're stuck for three-plus hours wriggling in theater-like seats. At the Golden Globes, you get to sit at a table with friends and colleagues. Even if you lose, you drown your sorrows in a bevy of beverages.

A victory, however, means you have all the more reason to get ripped and make the rounds, trophy in hand, at the after-show parties.

You're a BSOC — Big Star On Campus — and the victory virtually guarantees you a ticket to the Big Dance.

That's right. With a Globe under your belt, you are about 80 percent likely to have a crack at the little fellow who can earn you loads of cash — Oscar. Political Nominations

On your way to Golden Globe glory, you may garner a boatload of honors — a New York Film Critics Award; a Chicago, Boston or L.A. Film Critics Award; a National Board of Review Award; a Broadcast Film Critics Award; and so forth and so on.

The question remains, however: "What's It All About, Alfie?"

Well, for the most part, winning is as much about politics as it is about talent. You may wonder why a nominee for best actor at one awards show competes for best supporting actor in another. You may also wonder why that actor's movie is sometimes considered a comedy, and at other times a drama.

The studios create this hodgepodge of entries. It's based not on deservedness, but on strategy to score the biggest number of overall awards.