Peter Templeman: The Govenor's Ball

12 March 2007

Organisation

FTI member Peter Templeman continues his reports from L.A. where he is attending the 2007 Academy Awards. Peter’s film ‘The Saviour’ is nominated in the Best Short Film category.

This was the traditional post-show party held in the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood & Highland Center. It was hands down the most decadent thing I have ever attended. Which doesn’t mean there were orgies and cocaine lined up on tables or anything, but the design, the food and the music was amazing.

We entered the ballroom beneath massive wrought iron archways draped with ivy and multicoloured flowers. Five pavilions flanked this, each a different shape and lighting palette. The theme was Tuscan countryside so everything seemed to have wisteria dripping off it.

The lighting was actually awesome and worth mentioning. Golden sun-rays from the ceiling diffused through the pergolas throughout the main area, while the pavilions each had their own subtle but distinct colour theme. One was half-mooned and bathed in a rustic amber palette, another diamond-shaped in varying shades of magenta, another doused in emerald tones and one in shades of azure and blue. We tried to spend time in each area and soak it up.

The organic catering was engineered by that famous Chef Wolfgang Puck and his team. Puck’s seafood and Kobe beef are famous for being extremely pampered animals when they were living. I think the fish once swam in gentrified oceanic tanks, and the cows spent their lives chewing on manicured rye grass while being massaged, fed beer and encouraged to play backgammon. Strange how knowing this history about what I was eating made it taste better.

I have to admit that just about everything at this Governors Ball looked, sounded and tasted amazing, and it was hard not to be intoxicated by it all. Several times during the night I caught myself quietly aspiring to be involved in this type of extravagance more regularly. But those feelings turned to guilt as we stepped out of Fantasia and into the street.

Immediately confronted by two homeless guys looking for spare change, I replied, “Sorry mate, I didn’t bring my wallet.” A tough excuse when you’re sliding into a limo I can tell you, but it was the truth. However, the guy’s reaction took me by surprise. Expecting him to capitalize on my obvious guilt, I was after a snub of disdain from a street-proud homeless warrior. Instead, this guy simply nodded benignly, as if to say – Sure, I wouldn’t give me money if I were you either.

It’s subtle differences like that, that make Australia a great place to live. Our homeless people still have some pride. They’re not quite as beaten down by the pressure to achieve and be a ‘Winner’. They have the healthy chip on the shoulder that we all have in Oz. The one that burdens us with never feeling completely comfortable with the concept of ‘success’, but which also protects us from ever feeling too defeated when things are tough. So with my ozzie chip emphatically chiselled, and our white limousine slowly pulling away from the curb, I yearned to yell out in solidarity to the homeless guy – ‘Mate I’m a loser tonight too – I know exactly how you feel!’