Bravo to the HFPA for Bringing Back Ricky Gervais as Golden Globes Host (Opinion)

Paul Drinkwater/NBC via Getty Images Kudos to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for asking Ricky Gervais to host the Golden Globe Awards for a third consecutive year, even after he blisteringly insulted them and many of their guests at last year's ceremony. To be perfectly honest, I didn't think they had it in them.our editor recommendsRicky Gervais Returning as Host of Golden GlobesRicky Gervais Offers to Host Oscars Following Eddie Murphy, Brett Ratner ExitsJohnny Depp Confronts Ricky Gervais About Golden Globes Joke (Video)Ricky Gervais Rejoins Twitter PHOTOS: Golden Globes 2011 Red Carpet Arrivals The HFPA is a strange group composed of an assortment of primarily little-known journalists who periodically contribute to publications based around the world. It's a little vague how one is invited to become a member of the HFPA -- a member once asked me, after we had a very pleasant conversation, if I had any foreign ties that could justify a spot for me -- but it is perfectly clear that the studios desperately covet the favor of those who do. Consequently, HFPA members wield immense power and influence in Hollywood -- and not always in the most becoming of ways. Widely referred to as "star-f*ckers," its members all but demand that studios host special screenings of their films and arrange special press conferences with their films' actors specifically for them (post-press conference photo-ops are strongly encouraged), and have a long history of rewarding the stars who butter them up the most over lesser-known "actors' actors." (For instance, they all received Blu-Ray players at a party for Tobey Maguire, whose long-shot best actor candidacy for Brothers was subsequently rewarded with a nomination, and they were flown out to a Las Vegas concert performance of Cher, who then scored a best song nod.) PHOTOS: 2011 Golden Globes Party Pics What made Gervais a terrific host -- two years ago, and especially last year -- is that he didn't pretend that the aforementioned information was irrelevant or unimportant, but rather joked about it in the same bemused way as everyone else in the film industry. Sure, it must have made the somewhat self-important HFPA feel a little self-conscious and embarassed to be mocked and knocked down a notch in front of millions by someone whom they had hired to act as their ambassador to the world, but the truth is that the things that he called them out on -- having disproportionate influence for a bunch of nobodies, supporting bad movies in order to hang out with their stars, being susceptible to outside influence, etc. -- were (a) true, (b) funny, and (c) actually made them more relatable to the general public, in an odd way. After all, wouldn't most people do the same? And while his jabs at the alleged sexual preferences of several well-known Scientologist movie stars may have crossed the line of political-correctness, they only elicited laughs because their underlying premise is something that everyone has already heard before. What made Gervais so funny as a host and helped him to deliver great ratings for NBC over the past two years is just that: his willingness to say what everyone is already thinking but nobody else will dare say. And for embracing that and recognizing that one should be able to laugh at oneself, I say bravo to the HFPA. For all of your faults, you got this one right, and, like the millions of others who watched your last two shows, I now can't wait for the next one. Golden Globes Ricky Gervais HFPA Golden Globes 2012