The Golden Raspberry Award was created by American copywriter and publicist John J. B. Wilson. In 1981, following the 53rd Academy Awards ceremony, Wilson invited friends to give mock award presentations in his living room. The event was quite a success, so Wilson decided to formalize the ceremony and make it an annual occurrence. The award wasn’t named after a fruit, the term raspberry is used in its irreverent sense, as in “blowing a raspberry”. The name is often shortened to Razzies.
The first three ceremonies were held in Wilson’s living room but as the attendance grew, the ceremony moved to an elementary school in Los Angeles. The fourth ceremony was covered by CNN and two major news agencies. To get more press coverage, Wilson decided to schedule the Razzies before the Oscars. He figured out they couldn’t compete with the Academy Awards, but if they went the night before, the press would be more interested.
The winners are determined by a vote of the paying members of the Golden Academy Award Foundation including journalists, film industry professionals and cinema fans from all over the United States and more than a dozen countries abroad. Voters are not required to watch the nominated movies which has drawn some criticism.
Most winners do not show up at the ceremony to collect their awards, and how can we blame them? Notable exceptions include Bill Cosby, Tom Selleck, Paul Verhoeven, Tom Green, Ben Affleck, Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, and David Eigenberd.
The Razzies ceremony is modeled after the Academy Awards ceremony but deliberately tacky. The statuette depicts a raspberry, it is made of cheap plastic and spray painted gold. It costs less than $5 including sales tax.
Photo: nypost.com
