Vanity Despair
Posted by: junkfoodmedia on: April 12, 2010
This week Vanity Fair took a deserved lashing from View co-host Whoopi Goldberg for their decision to spotlight some of Tiger Woods’ mistresses. Although I have not seen the spread myself, she states the women are photographed in glamorous poses for the article. So like Whoopi, I also beg to ask the public what message does this send out? That having cheap meaningless affairs, or affairs at all, with married men is glamorous? That if you mess around with someone famous enough you too can be in print? Forget about education and meaningful work, all it takes nowadays is to spread your legs for the right guy. Ladies, I thought we had come much further from the days when our mothers worked hard to better our opportunities. Is this how we should repay their hard work, by sending us backwards generations?
I was rather disappointed when Barbara Walters discounted Whoopi’s critique as she tried to end the conversation. Barbara suggested, as she fluttered her eyes, that they invite someone from Vanity Fair to the show in order to explain their decision. I’m curious Barbara, what would be a legitimate explanation? I guess “We’re a fluff magazine with nothing important to report on” would suffice. However, Barbara then segmented into something I applaud her for, pointing out the hypocrisy of The View’s positions. Case in point, Barbara cited their December interview with Ashley Dupre, former prostitute to former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. She cited how their own show, The View, had her on as a guest to promote her new sex advice column (See Junk Food Media post for 12/4/09, From Prostitute to Businesswoman, The Success of a Scandal). For that I applaud you Barbara, way to take responsibility for your reporting decisions, or at least the reporting decisions of your network.
6 Responses to "Vanity Despair"
April 13, 2010 at 10:05 am
I am sickened by the relentless media that pursues these mistresses as if something they have to say is newsworthy. These women strut around, granting interviews, excited by all the attention while at the same time talking how they have been “wronged” by the married men they are sleeping with and, for effect, producing a few tears in the hopes we will feel sorry for them. These women deliberately pursued these celebrities with the full attention of trapping them or why else would they save text messages and then release them to the media? For attention and money, that’s why. That in no way excuses the men who took the bait either because they were dumb enough to think that hookers are honorable and wouldn’t tell. Well, surprise, surprise. Why does the press feel that something so personal and humiliating for the wife and family entitle all of us to the disgusting details?
Chelsea Handler actually said something funny about Jesse James tattooed mistress. It seems that Ms. tattoo thinks we are all dumb enough to believe that she was told that Jesse and Sandra had split up and that’s why she slept with him (over and over and over and over). Otherwise, she said she would have NEVER slept with him. Chelsea said – “I guess she didn’t know they were still very much together because she doesn’t read magazines since she has one tattooed all over her face.” Ms. Tatoo was then interviewd for her reaction to Chelsea’s comment and allowed to take shots at Chelsea for having the nerve to say anything mean about her. This woman’s father even came to her defense and had the nerve to appear on TV defending his daughter, although someone obviously asked him to. Hey Dad………………are you proud to have raised a whore with no morals? Get out of our face.
So why are all the magazines and TV networks trying to get interviews with all these hookers? I think it’s because people like seeing other people unhappy, especially movie stars. It makes them feel less miserable in their own life. Ever since the information came out about Jesse James, you can’t stand in the grocery store check out line without seeing the magazines and tabloids. Even more disturbing, Sandra’s face, not his face, is plastered all over every magazine cover in the store. It makes me feel extremely sorry for Sandra Bullock that she has been put in this humiliating position that she didn’t ask for. If she turns on the TV she will see relentless coverage about the low-life she married and his women. Does anybody care about Sandra’s feelings or Elizabeth Edwards feelings or Elin Woods feelings? No, the media thinks that America cares more about what the whores have to say. Shockingly, Oprah is planning to interview the Eliot Spitzer mistress. This is old news but the promo for the show states that Oprah is the first one to be granted this interview. Who cares? How would Oprah feel if her high profile husband cheated with a hooker and she chose to stay with him and try to work on the marriage and a year later, while the marriage is still healing, someone interviews the hooker on TV and brings it all up again, giving her credibility. How more hurtful is that for his wife? Hey Oprah – how about a show interviewing the wives and what they are going through? It just shows what a sick society we have become. But I have a very simple solution. Don’t interview them, don’t give them air time, magazine time or any other kind of time and they will hopefully slither back under the rocks they crawled out of. Unfortunately, that will never happen because the reality is that bad news and shocking stories are far more interesting to people and that’s just very sad.
That’s just my opinion!
April 13, 2010 at 10:16 pm
I expect more from Oprah, interestingly enough she has already been on The View (in December), so it really isn’t the first interview. I saw today where the “bombshell” gal stated she was sorry to Sandra, I don’t buy it, someone who is sorry wouldn’t smear intimate stories that are graphic in nature, like the ones she reported to a tabloid magazine, at least that’s what the magazine states she told them first hand. I will say we should all learn a lesson from this, if you start dating a guy/gal and s/he has a reality television show, rent it, watch it, take notes. That’s who you’re gonna get. For that reason I’m not feeling too bad for Sandra, it was well documented who she was marrying, I wouldn’t date someone who married an adult film star. Where I come from, we call that a red flag.
April 14, 2010 at 12:40 am
The media’s obsession with the latest tawdriness may be rather sad, but I for one suspect that the women roped into this are most likely ordinary average people, not unlike you or I. All of us worship fame a bit. Which of us doesn’t have one or two celebrity crushes we wouldn’t indulge if the opportunity arose? And if your super secret celebrity crush revealed to you one night over beers at the hotel bar that she and her beau were splitting up would you refuse her your shoulder? (Which would no doubt need to follow her to her room for some private crying time.)
I’ve worked in theatre for a few years now, so I’ll tell you a secret: famous people can pretty much always have their pick of audience members. The audience is largely a self selected group of people who like them. Sure, some of them are probably jerks, as there’s a fair number of jerks on the planet. A few of them might even be devious. But most of them are just there to dream and have a good time. And if the star asks them back to the bus, well, that’s an awfully sweet bonus.
So lob stink-bombs at the stars, if you want. They knew the script before they signed the contract. But let’s not throw too much at the extras. They just came for the food anyway. Had no idea what the show was even about.
I for one would much rather go back to thinking about (purported but unconfirmed) affairs between Chanel and Stravinsky. God, the pillow talk must have been fantastic. Just imagine the discussions of costume, drama, storytelling, art, politics. No doubt wonderful stuff.
April 15, 2010 at 8:26 am
David, your comment reminds me of the friends episode where the couples have their list of celebrities they could sleep w/ if the opportunity arose. I think Ross takes Isabella Rossellini off of his list and then he runs into her at the coffee shop. It was a funny show, but I must admit I disagree with your comment. I don’t think we are all waiting for some celebrity opportunity. I have a wonderful husband and am well aware that something like that would just be a cheap thrill, a passing thrill, which if I engaged in would only bring havoc and loss. Furthermore, I’ve never been the type to engage in a one night stand, and I know I’m not alone in that value. Sure, I think the new Bond is gorgeous, but it doesn’t mean i’d sleep w/ the guy. I don’t think these women are like all of us, some of us sure. I for one pride myself on my education, my work experience, my values, my morals. None of that includes sleeping with a celebrity and then running off to the press to validate myself (these women have sought this out, over and over again, I don’t view them as extras or victims). These women weren’t told by Tiger he was breaking up w/ his wife. Sure people make mistakes, but there is no remorse with these women that I’m referring to. Plain and simple, I am critical of adultery, I think it’s wrong, I don’t care how cool the participants are. If that’s what someone wants to do, then don’t get married, or end it before starting something new.
April 13, 2010 at 12:57 am
I confess that I get an odd kick out of certain kinds of dish, but I really prefer the sort where I can respect both people independently of the gratuitous sexual content. Take the purported affair between Coco Channel and Igor Stravinsky. That’s the stuff dreams are made of: two superlatively talented individuals enticed into breaking societal taboos by their mutual love of wonderful stuff. Including but not limited to each wonderful stuff other.
Or Alma Mahler. Here’s a woman who was by all accounts erudite, artistic, educated, and just plain intoxicating. I’d always known that Gustav Mahler was heart broken when he learned of her affair. I’d never caught who the fellow was. Some years later I was listening to Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto. Berg was one of the real bad boys of early twentieth century music; a student of perhaps the greatest wild child of the day: Arnold Schoenberg. Berg dedicated his penultimate work to a child who had died; the child of a VERY close confidante with whom he spent an awful lot of time late in his life. The child was Manon Gropius, daughter of Alma Mahler-Gropius.
What what? Mahler-Gropius? Oh yeah, the affair that broke Gustav Mahler’s heart involved an architect. Some fellow named Walter Gropius. Okay. That’s collecting talent. Mahler, Gropius, Berg, and apparently an author of some repute in German, and a sculptor of Viennese Secession fame. If you can collect a string of confidants and lovers that need be referred to only by last name then I’m not bloody worthy. These guys shaped the bloody world. The three named here are among the most influential artists of all time. (The others could be too, but their arts are outside my purview.)
But in all of these cases it’s the relationship between great thinkers that entices me. Sure, I like to imagine what they were doing when not thinking greatly, but if they hadn’t all been incredibly important people then why should I be interested in them? I seem to recall that some televangelist had an affair with his secretary in the eighties. But I can no longer recall who either one were as neither one did anything worthy of holding my attention after the business on the televangelistic desk. Pornography is fine, I suppose, but hardly ever memorable. Connections between interesting people, now those are always memorable.
April 13, 2010 at 8:25 am
Thanks for the comment, reading this helped make up for the brain cells The View took from me the other day, I think they are now regenerated. Hearing you talk about the interesting lives of composers made me remember a project I saw last year by a woman earning her BFA in graphic design at Notre Dame. She is also a great violinist and based her thesis on research that said middle school children think classical music is boring. She did an awe inspiring graphic movie of sorts w/ pieces from various composers that are very moving w/ data about them. She really brings to life how complicated and interesting they were, and how they were like the rock stars of their day. She presented it to local middle schools and the kids were so amazed and fascinated. It’s really designed to be seen in an IMAX kind of a set up; I found it to be very emotional and gripping. The information about it is at http://www.immers3d.com, the pieces take awhile to load, but they are well worth the wait. My favorite was the one on Beethoven.