A Who’s Who of 2022’s MTV Movie & TV Awards
Early this morning, fans who felt like reliving the glory days of high school cliques, superlatives and trauma tuned in to watch the crème de la crème walk the red carpet at the MTV Music Awards. The authentic high school experience was maintained by the notable lack of A-list celebrities and swathes of actors, reality stars and musicians hoping for their first accolades, or for extra attention on their first MTV red carpet. Hosted by Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical fame, it felt just like watching the valedictorian take her usual place at the lectern during school assembly (she likes Pi).
Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland (spider men past and present) are up for Best Team Award for their work in Marvel’s mad and ever-expanding multiverse.
Our favourite funny man and musician, Jack Black, received the Comedic Genius Award for making “incomparable contributions to the world of comedy, providing a major influence through their work and transforming the genre at large.”
J Lo received the MTV Generation Award, which “celebrates beloved actors whose diverse contributions to both film and television have turned them into household names.” It’s true - everyone in my house knows who J Lo is.
Of course, just like high school superlatives, the MTV Awards have often championed the cringey as well as the cool. Lady Gaga is up for the Best Performance in a Movie Award, for her depiction of Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci - a performance which copped criticism for glamourising crime, trivialising the real-life family’s grief, as well as a dodgy accent which veered from Russian to Polish and back again. After going method for nine months, perhaps she deserves an A+ for effort. But against Timothée Chalamet for Dune, and Robert Pattinson for The Batman, she is up against steep competition.
How do you choose between Sydney Sweeney and Zendaya? Arguably, you don’t. But the MTV Awards are going to have to. Vying for Best Performance in a Show, for their dramatic roles in Euphoria, it’s almost blasphemy to have to pick one. Then again, the judges might dodge that bullet all together by picking one of the other nominees; among them, Amanda Seyfried for her depiction of Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout, and Lily James for playing Pamela Anderson in Pam and Tommy.
If you’re not averse to cooties, keep an eye on the Best Kiss category, fan favourite nominees including Hunter Schafer and Dominic Fike in Euphoria, and Tom Holland and Zendaya in Spiderman: No Way Home.