Oscars 2015: E! reportedly will not feature mani-cam, we rejoice

Great news for all of those who have enjoyed some of the E! red carpet coverage at various awards shows, but hate some of the charade that the network puts the celebrities through. As reported by the Hollywood Reporter offshoot Pret-a-Reporter, the network is not going to be featuring their famed “mani-cam” at the 2015 Academy Awards, citing space as the reason why. (It should be noted that the “clutch cam” is also not going to be featured.)

While space may be a legitimate reason for the lack of such a camera, we do wonder if the criticism of the camera also played a role in ditching it for the time being. Many A-list actors, including Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, declined to walk their fingers down the notorious “runway” at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Personally, we’ve often felt that this makes actors constantly uncomfortable and pressured to show off their manicure to the point where all of America can see it. If they don’t do it, they risk negativity coming their way; meanwhile, the same happens if they do.

Our feeling here ultimately is that celebrities should show off whatever they choose to at the red carpet, since it is not like they are dependent on E! for coverage of the night. If they are extremely proud of their manicure, they can get a close-up on it.

While the report says the camera could turn again, we rather hope that it doesn’t. We prefer hearing more from the men and women themselves, and not putting them through a series of exercises as though they are show ponies trotting out in front of an audience. Many of these people are intelligent! Let’s focus on their work, and let them discuss their sense of style.

Anyway, this will be the end of our rant about this today.