7. Awards "Campaigning" That Is Flat-Out Bribery
We're all aware of how totally ridiculous the whole awards season circus is; movie studios spend millions of dollars campaigning for their movies, actors and actresses to win self-congratulatory awards that pat them on the back for getting paid handsomely to do what is essentially not even a real job. Though the Oscars generally avoid overt bribery these days by way of some strict campaigning rules, the Golden Globes, for instance, are governed by no such authority, and studios are free to try and buy awards votes from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association with impunity. The sub-100 throng of HFPA members who decide the Golden Globes were, in 2011, taken on an expenses-paid trip by Sony to Las Vegas, where they saw a Cher concert. This resulted, many have suggested, in highly unpopular films such as The Tourist and Burlesque receiving Best Picture nods. The only good thing about this is that it makes the Oscars look at whole lot more credible by comparison...