Boredom and apathy on the Gaudí red carpet

BarcelonaThe Gaudí Awards celebrated their eighteenth edition this Sunday, and true to their founding mission—to champion the quality of Catalan cinema—each year they emulate a low-budget Hollywood format: awards ceremony, speeches, performances, and, of course, the red carpet with celebrities in all their finery. But… are these really the best galas Catalan cinema can offer?

In general, fashion flair was conspicuously absent from the gala, where many actresses wore outfits they could have worn on Christmas Day. In fact, it's telling that the TV3 reporters were more dressed up than the guests themselves. As for the men, while there were exceptions—like Enric Auquer, who usually dresses impeccably at every gala—the rest had a generally casual, "at-home" look. From Ivan Morales, wearing a Fred Perry polo shirt more suited to a casual get-together with friends, to tailored suits without ties and shirts untucked, an aesthetic similar to that of men late at a wedding.

Elisenda Carod herself has said from the foyer From the Liceu, which "dominated black... with Catalan serenity," but what we must never confuse is serenity with boredom. In my articles, I have repeatedly defended the unfair aesthetic pressure that actresses suffer on the red carpet. However, it is also true that we cannot fall into an aesthetic apathy that, rather than a rebellion against this pressure, reveals a lack of willingness to take the event seriously.

If the issue is not wanting to play the Hollywood Oscars game, let's do it seriously and reinvent the concept of awards from the ground up. But if what is done is a watered-down "copy and paste" of what happens in America, the comparison is inevitable and conveys the feeling of what you order from AliExpress and what you receive. A feeling that has a direct impact on the importance we ultimately give to Catalan cinema.