Friday, August 24, 2012

Love Boss, but Kelsey Grammer, you are not entitled to an Emmy

Kelsey Grammer: I was snubbed for an Emmy because I'm a Republican

Oh, come on.

Boss is one of the best shows on TV. Fearless in its storytelling, takes no political prisoners, draining each actor of the truth, in every scene. The details are as astounding as the scenery-chewing.

Grammer's acting is not a revelation. You could always see this in him - the stone professionalism, the ability to inhabit a character, the tools to show an ego without (reportedly) being consumed by one. The combination of confidence and resignation he showed in his first appearance as Frasier Crane, wooing Diane in Cheers, embodied every entitled over-educated guy-who-had-more-money-than-you who was stealing your girlfriend.

Grammer's Republicanism is no surprise. He has drifted toward patrician roles, even laughably military (was the movie Periscope Down?), and he has made sure we knew that he was one of the few conservatives in Hollywood. This is not technically true - the entertainment business is one of the most divided in the world between haves and have-nots. Many of the wealthy and powerful in this world will pay lip service to socially liberal causes while paying actual money to the Republican party - they'd like to hang on to some of their largess, and they hang around a potent world of Big Money.

Kelsey, drop the drug abuse, drive like you're one of us instead of one of them, respect your spouse and love yourself enough to be a willing participant in a marriage, hold on to whatever political views you want as long as they're based in fact, and embrace the work you are able to do and the accolades you have already received.

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