British comedian Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globe Awards last week for the third time in a row, and the splash he made was hardly noticeable. This was a surprise because, judging from the buildup to the event, it seemed guaranteed that he would try something outlandish.

After all, what Gervais had managed during his previous hosting gig only one year prior was virtually a one-man insurrection. Just last year at the Globes, with a glass of wine in his hand and a smirk on his face, Gervais stood at the pulpit of the Hollywood house of worship and he dared to besmirch the ceremony in proper heretical fashion.

Award show hosts are expected take good-natured jabs at the guests in the room, but never with any malice. During a past awards event, comedian Jon Stewart hosted and said, “I kid because I envy,” right after making a joke at the expense of a celebrity guest. He wanted to reassure everyone that he had no intent to bruise any egos.

Gervais opted for a more contemptuous sort of reassurance when it was his turn last year, and afterward, egos were not just treated for bruises. They were taken to the ER.

In his opening monologue, Gervais challenged the validity of Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp’s Golden Globe nominations for the film “The Tourist,” implying that bribery was the reason it was selected. In addition to that, he admonished Hugh Hefner for marrying a girl nearly a quarter of his age. And as the evening grew darker, the jokes followed suit.

The media reaction to Gervais’ jabs was overboard. Even the Hollywood Foreign Press Association called it “outrageous” — and they are in charge of the show. The fallout was so disproportionate one would have thought Gervais had set the ballroom on fire, trotted off gleefully into the night and left a smoldering heap of Botox in his wake.

He did no such thing — nothing nearly as inflammatory — at least not literally. But what he did do was establish his resentment for celebrity culture in the middle of a room full of celebrities, which set off a few sparks and a ripple of startled gasps.

For those who have been observing Gervais’ career over the past decade, his performance last year was gratifying. Gervais is co-creator of the original television series “The Office,” which has been remade in numerous countries around the world, including here in the United States. Since then he has written, directed and acted in the British sitcoms “Extras” and “Life’s Too Short.”
In all three programs, Gervais explores the obsession that many people have with fame. He questions why people pursue it, and highlights the discrepancy between what “celebrity” is and what people perceive it to be. His claim seems simply that celebrity is not something to celebrate.

That is what made his second performance as Golden Globes host so memorable; because it was then, in the midst of an ultimate celebration of celebrity, that he chose to act on his ideas and incorporate his own agenda into the mix.

Things were different this year, however. For starters, it didn’t make much sense for Gervais to return to the event after he’d already ruffled more than a few feathers. He said he’d done what he set out to do, so now it seemed strange that the HFPA executives he disrespected before would hire him again.

But not only did they hire him back, they marketed him rather energetically. Under the label of a “troublemaker” who says wacky things, they found a way to sell Gervais to viewers — what wacky things will he say this time?!

And so once he was deemed profitable, past transgressions were forgiven. It turns out that Gervais actually didn’t have much to say in this third round, and by returning as host when he had no purpose, he was morphing from a Hollywood rebel into a Hollywood puppet. Thus reinforcing the message that it doesn’t matter what you say, where you say it, or who you say it to, there is a corporation that can and nullify you by adopting you into their business model.