Who doesn’t like receiving awards? It’s a sign of recognition for achieving something important. However, there are certain accolades that one might not want to receive or be associated with. These are our top favourites.
The Golden Raspberries Awards (The Razzies)
The best in cinematic endeavours will be rightfully honoured at the upcoming Academy Awards on 24 February. While the world celebrates the best of 2018, the 39th annual Golden Raspberry Awards aka the Razzies will be doing the opposite by awarding accolades to the failures in the film industry the day after. The award was co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy. Past winners include Halle Berry for her ‘winning’ performance in 2004’s Catwoman. She is one of the few to have the guts to show up at the ceremony itself in person to accept their trophy. Who are this year’s nominees? Will Ferrell’s Holmes & Watson, Death of a Nation and the R-rated puppet comedy Happytime Murders.
The Ig Nobel Prize
The Ig Nobel Prize is a parody of the actual Nobel Prize but isn’t a completely useless award ceremony. It acknowledges achievements that make people laugh first and think later and the prizes honours the imaginative and celebrate the unusual in science, medicine and technology. The gala ceremony is held every September at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre and is usually attended by over a thousand equally eccentric spectators in addition to it being broadcasted live online. Organised by Annals of Improbable Research magazine, genuine Nobel Laureates physically hand out the prizes and participate in the ceremony in other ways annually.
The Diagram Prize
The Diagram Prize is an amusing literary award granted to a book with the weirdest title each year and the official title of the awards itself is a mouthful – The Diagram Group Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year, which is named after Diagram Group, a London-based information and graphics company. The Joy of Chickens, Oral Sadism and the Vegetarian Personality, Bombproof Your Horse and Cooking with Poo are some of the prize-winning titles that have been recognised for their riveting titles.
Ernie Awards
Misogynist comments often get called out online but, the Ernie Awards takes things a few steps ahead by awarding these unwarranted statements. The award is named after Ernie Ecob, former secretary of Australian Workers’ Union, who was notoriously famous for his sexist rants and misogynist remarks. Authoritative figures aren’t spared either. Last year, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was nominated for ridiculing a proposal for a gender analysis of tax payments. He said, “It’s an absolutely ridiculous proposition. You don’t get pink forms and blue forms to fill out your tax return.”
Foot in the Mouth Awards
Elon Musk is the most unexpected person to be anointed with such an award. But, he is in fact the most recent recepient of The Foot in Mouth Award for his cringe-worthy comment about the rescue efforts of Thai school football players who were trapped in a cave last year. “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it,” he had said, as part of his embarrassing Twitter rant against Vern Unsworth, who had led the heroic rescue mission that kept the whole world riveted. Also one of the nominees was former American President George W Bush, who was presented with a lifetime achievement award in 2008 for the continuous baffling remarks he had made over the years while in office.
Related: What Were These Celebrities Wearing At The 61st Grammy Awards?
