Why The MTV Movie & TV Awards Still Felt So Disappointing

The 2017 MTV Movie And TV Awards gave me whiplash. The rebranded award show made the inclusive decision to ditch sex-separated acting categories in favor of allowing men and women to compete on the merits of just their acting. Emma Watson gave a speech for the ages. Even gender non-binary actor Asia Kate Dillon handed out the telecast’s first official award. But then there would be a pre-written joke and everything would come crashing down.

In between Watson and Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown’s perfect winning moments on stage, presenter Alexandra Daddario was forced to go say a list of "bad words" that would make any frat star giggle. "Dong, ass, balls, weiner, titties, areolas," she listed, staring right into the camera. The line was obviously written for Daddario, so we can’t blame the Baywatch actress for the snooze-worthy and tasteless joke, but it still felt totally out of place between all the pop cultural feminism.

Speaking of frat-friendly "humor" host Adam Devine carried that banner throughout the night between all the progressive vibes. In fact, the Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates star took on his apolitical attitude head on with "Adam Gets It," a tone deaf bit. "You know what else I loved? Beauty And The Beast. Or as I like to call it, Multidimensional Woman With Her Own Dynamic Traits And The Beast," he said while walking through the crowd with a smirk. "Jane The Virgin has sex this year. And that’s none of our damn business." Ha! That doesn’t sound like he’s mocking pro-woman stories and the need to end slut shaming at all!

Things continued to get disappointing with Devine during his Stranger Things parody, where Barb (played by Jillian Bell) is now sleeping with the demogorgon, who "has four peepees." Firstly, let’s remember Barb was actually violently murdered by the demogorgon. Secondly, here we are again, with bottom of the barrel humor among all the forward-thinking rebranding. If you don’t believe me that this is all super tasteless, “tree’s butthole” is said multiple in this bit and Adam talks about his semi-functioning penis. Does anyone else feel inspired?

This is all a bigger bummer when you realize Adam Devine wasn’t the only option here. During the show alone, both former host Rebel Wilson and Rough Night star Jillian Bell repeatedly proved they could’ve handled the hosting duties. If neither of them were interested, I’m sure any of Bell’s hilarious Rough co-stars — like Broad City’s Ilana Glazer or Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon — would have been happy to host.

I’ll start the petition right now: McKinnon 2K18 For the MTV M&TV Awards.