"Why is she the public punching bag? Child molesters aren't hated as enthusiastically!" Link
I tend to agree, at least somewhat. Life isn't fair. Deal! Sure, I want the legal system to treat everyone impartially, but I have no illusions that it actually does. Parents lament the messages the likes of Paris Hilton transmit to their children. My parents never whined about outside messages. At home, the message was clear and unwavering. To a certain extent, people hating on Paris need to own their issues.
I thought about launching my own anti-anti-Paris rant, but I decided to let Camille Paglia do the talking instead:
Lohan's travails were swept away, however, by Paris Hilton's histrionics. Oh my, what a wailing and a rending of garments! Poor Paris, dragged sobbing off to jail while shrieking for Mumsey -- it would break your heart if Paris hadn't shown such disdain for the law and if her obnoxiously self-righteous parents weren't always planning posh parties for her. Drunk driving, Paris' worst offense, is a public menace.
At first, Paris seemed to be adopting Martha Stewart's admirable stoicism about the slammer, but things rapidly fell apart. Paris' early release after three days (reversed by the judge) caused an explosion of international indignation. The issue was the equity of American justice, which should properly be blind to wealth and rank. I burst out laughing when I heard the BBC World Service radio announcer report in hushed, plummy tones about "the American socialite Paris Hilton," immediately following a segment on troubles brewing in the Saudi royal family.
I was disturbed by the litany of too many commentators claiming that Paris had done absolutely nothing to earn her celebrity. It's true Paris had become overexposed, but only because she lacks Madonna's brilliant facility for changing styles and personae to keep it all fresh. Paris was stuck in the rut of one look and was getting too long in the tooth to play the daffy ingénue.
While Paris became known to a wide audience through her self-parodying role in 'The Simple Life,' that TV show is a relatively minor phenomenon. The fact is that Paris has been a reasonably successful professional model since she was 19, seven years ago. Her collective body of work belongs to the chronicle of our time. Paris' distinctive, riveting and often choreographic visual images were produced improvisationally on the nightclub scene as well as in formal shoots for commercial clients like Guess. She has given pleasure and diversion to cultural voyeurs around the globe and should be respected for it.
Also, I added a new link a few days ago: Planet Hiltron.
2 comments:
Heh...I feel sort of sheepish at initiating a post topic, but the Paris-bashing really irks me more than even the relentless coverage of her every move. We are all shaped by our life experiences, and I doubt many folks could do much better if they were raised in a similar environment. Raising kids is a crap-shoot, even for the most sensible parents...mostly because individual perception varies so much. For instance, my parents were very hard-working people who loved me, but they were always busy, and pretty much ignored me and let me do as I pleased. My sister perceived this as uncaring, but I just figured that they trusted me to make good decisions. Like the good Dr. Phil says, "There is no reality, only perception." (People like to hate him, too.)
I have an aunt who loves Dr. Phil. She flew down to Burbank to be in his audience. She's been in Oprah's audience too, and wants to do the View. My aunt's a riot.
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