What surprises will MTV Movie and TV Awards bring in 2019?
MTV Movie and TV Awards 2019 recognised both fictional and real-life heroes in the best on-screen entertainment this year
REUTERS/Mike Blake
By Clare Cavanagh | Jun 17, 2019
All eyes were on MTV Movie and TV Awards 2019 as both fictional and real heroes took to the stage on Monday 17th June. Hosted by Zachary Levi at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, awards voted by the public honored a combination of the most popular TV shows and movies screened over the last year.
Lizzo and Bazzi provided musical entertainment with high-level glitzy and colourful stage performances to the packed venue audience. Nominations included Best Movie, Best Show, Best Performance In A Movie, Best Performance In A Show, Best Hero, Best Villain, Best Kiss, Best Comedic Performance, Breakthrough Performance, Best Fight, Most Frightened Performance, Best Documentary and Best Host.
This year included new award categories titled Reality Royalty, Most Meme-able Moment and Best Real-Life Hero. Heroism in both real-life and fiction stories was the big theme this year, having generated many conversations within audiences on the topic. While the huge popularity of the Marvel films continues to gain large numbers of votes for their hero characters, 2019’s event also recognised real-life ‘heroes’ such as Free Solo’s rock climber Alex Honnold, tennis icon Serena Williams and the second female Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who won the award. The documentary RBG, exploring her life and career, also led the highest number of nominations, along with Avengers: Endgame and Games Of Thrones.
MTV Movie and TV Awards is an entertaining event beyond the ‘Golden Popcorn’ trophies which are awarded to winners on the night. Surprise elements of entertainment that appear each year can never be predicted.
This year, Brie Larson took to the stage to collect her award for ‘Best Fight’ but refused to accept it alone. She invited her two stunt doubles, Renae Moneymaker and Joanna Bennett, to join her in recognising their support and work in training her to enhance her role as Captain Marvel. “I could not have made this film without them. They are really the baseline for who she is. They are the living embodiment of Captain Marvel.”
‘Most Frightened Performance’ was awarded to Sandra Bullock for her leading role in Netflix film Bird Box and she took the opportunity to give a touching speech to her children. “I wanted you to see what being a family looks like. Sometimes you are born into a family. Sometimes you need to go find it. Sometimes it finds you. But no matter how it comes together, that when it does, family is what you fight for.”
The team behind Surviving R. Kelly gathered to accept their trophy for ‘Best Documentary’. Asante McGee, Lisa Van Allen, Lizzette Martinez and Faith Rodgers, who all spoke out in the film, took to the stage led by Brie Miranda Bryant, Lifetime’s senior vice president of unscripted development and programming. She praised her colleague and gave a nod to the significance of “important and cultural impact generated from this documentary.” Martinez burst into tears on the stage and the emotional essence was felt across the room, supporting the significance of sharing such stories. “Because of your bravery, other girls and boys and women and men are now speaking without shame and being heard without judgement,” said Bryant. “Because of your courage, you created change and you survived.”
Established in 2012, the Trailblazer Award which “recognises game-changing creatures with fresh and fearless voices in entertainment” was rewarded to Jade Pinkett Smith this year. MTV screened the event live, including all the excitement as celebrities appear on the red carpet. Their social media coverage on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has been at full force, capturing every moment and story as they appear.
