Meet Ash: Your New Weekend Editor!
I’m a pop culture junkie who just graduated from college, moved to LA and rediscovered the magic of television. Because seriously, who has time to keep up with the Kardashians—or any of our favorite celebrities—amidst midterms, internships, rush week and grad school applications? Well from now on, I’m gonna make sure that you do.
Read the rest on CollegeCandy.com and, while you’re there, leave a prayer at my altar to old school Lindsay Lohan. Can her career make a comeback? THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST.
College Candy: Why I'm Happy I Didn't Grow Up As A Celebrity
Here at CollegeCandy, we know that bad decisions make good stories. But as we’ve watched our favorite starlets fall from grace, we’ve started to realize that growing up under the spotlight might not be for the best. So even though I’m not rolling in the dough as an heiress from my parents’ inheritance or from a viral video of my childhood cuteness on YouTube, I’m happy to have had a normal (for the most part) upbringing.
Unconvinced? Check this:
Messing up under a magnifying glass! Many of us are using these four years or so to try new experiences – skipping class, dancing wildly at the college bar, and possibly dabbling in illegal drugs. Though they may not be the wisest choices we make during our time at higher learning institutions, at least we have the opportunity to forget about them as early as the morning after. On the other hand, the pictures of Miley Cyrus experimenting with salvia, the reputation of Paris Hilton taking over tabletops and the criminal record of LiLo will not only spread farther than any of the immediate social circles who could ever find out about our little mistakes, but they will be remembered forever.
Playing a rigged dating game! As if it isn’t hard enough to find a decent guy to take home to Mom and Dad for Thanksgiving weekend, playing the field as a celebrity must be hard work if a successful couple is as rare as a Top 40 song without AutoTune. Not only do we have a wider selection of prospective candidates, but we also aren’t widely scrutinized for every bad blind date or every mate that we think is actually good for us when they actually aren’t. And thankfully, there isn’t overwhelming speculation regarding when we do decide to become sexually active…or with whom.
Walking constant runways! We all try to model our most cutting-edge fashion during the first few weeks of the semester, cleverly hiding our holiday weight gains and PMS breakouts. But once midterms start rolling around, we move into our university hoodies and PINK sweatpants, sacrificing today’s styles for tomorrow’s tests without judgment. Good thing we aren’t famous, because stepping outside in a fashion disaster that was never supposed to be seen beyond our bedrooms would probably land us on E!’s Worst Dressed lists for years to come.
Staring at endless mirrors! College women are already pressured to be a certain size by caring parents, traumatizing high school classmates and marketing sharks in the media, and throwing in freshmen fifteen weight gains, campus dining halls and depression-related eating disorders has occasionally resulted in a recipe for disaster. But celebrities unknowingly volunteer to be critiqued for their silhouettes: Overweight? Obese? Underweight? Ballet-dancer frames? And throughout the past decade, the “perfect” woman shape has ranged from Kate Moss to Beyoncé – there are only so many trainers and nutritionists for everyone to keep up, if anyone!
Whether actually talented or otherwise, it’s obviously difficult to be a celebrity of any kind; I’m not suggesting that we feel sorry for them, because these days, this is part of their job description. However, when we see yet another child star sprout into the spotlight, let us celebrate their success and cross our fingers for their falls, potential fiancés, fashion choices and body frames. Who knows – maybe they’ll surprise us all and rise to the top, and empower us in the future!
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another piece for CollegeCandy!
I miss the weekly writing routines of last quarter.
Being busy has always been better than being bored.
College Candy: Do We Have a Right to Know a Celebrity's Sexuality?
Confession: Like so many others in this society, I love celebrities. Gossip blogs are my morning newspapers and evening procrastination, but Twitter is definitely the best because they publish almost every single meal that they order. The entire Hollywood scene is practically like high school in a sense that everyone is always talking about each other, but it’s better: the people being discussed are much easier on the eyes, and the juice that flows between them is much more interesting than topics like prospective prom dates and who has access to (good) alcohol.
But not every celebrity reveals their daily details on the Internet for their fans, and despite society’s obsession with celebrities and my hunger for more, some celebrities still don’t share anything beyond their work in interviews. Earlier this week, interviewers sat down with actor Kevin Spacey to uncover news about his new film, but things quickly heated up when they accused him of lying (by omission) about his sexuality.
“I don’t live a lie,” said Spacey. “You have to understand that people who choose not to discuss their personal lives are not living a lie. That is a presumption that people jump to.” Sure, some of us may have our speculations about his sexuality, just like some of us did about John Travolta, Elton John and Ricky Martin, and just like some of us still do about Keanu Reeves and Tom Cruise. But confirmed information has brought mixed reviews in the past: it has been said to ruin some careers and fuel others to new heights, empowered by accepting audiences, gay and straight.
But as fans, do we have a right to know, or to even guess?
These days, it’s practically part of an actor’s job description to not only work in films and television, but also to accept their new role as a famous personality: make appearance on late-night shows, tell a few jokes, and share some intimate details about your life so that an audience can identify you and appreciate your work, let alone pay to see it. They aren’t only selling their talents anymore – they’re selling themselves, and we’re buying into it. It’s not bad, it’s entertaining and profitable, really. Plus, it potentially lends more power to their causes and charities, which can save lives and improve harsh conditions all over the world. Do we listen more attentively now that Lady Gaga has passionately spoken at a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” rally?
But should sexuality, or any other unscripted information, simply remain a private matter of a public figure? It’s not as if Americans normally guess strangers’ sexual orientations on the street (oh, I hope this isn’t your hobby…), so there’s no reason to do so on the red carpet. They go to acting school and train for years to become great in their abilities to tap into their emotions and portray them in roles, not to cause controversies with who they date – male or female, famed or otherwise. Just because someone aims to create art on film doesn’t mean their personal lives must be dissected by tabloids and Twitter feeds while off screen, to the point where Spacey parallels his interview to bullying:
“I think what we have seen in terms of gay teenagers committing suicide because of bullying is anguishing. I think young people, if they are feeling like they are confused, need to know that there are people to talk to and that there are places they can go and not feel alone. But I feel that they have just as many rights as I do to not be bullied. And I don’t understand people who say, ‘Well, this is a terrible thing that is happening to this young person whose life is being exposed,’ and then turn around and do it to another person. People have different reasons for the way they live their lives. You cannot put everyone’s reasons in the same box. It’s just a line I’ve never crossed and never will.”
So what do you think? Is celebrity commodification part of the modern contract for any anticipated blockbuster and new hit sitcom? Or are we all too obsessed with celebrities that we’ve unfairly cornered them in a fishbowl, watching their every move? Duke it out!
For the record, Spacey smoothly forced a topic change in the interview with his opinion on the matter:
“Look, at the end of the day people have to respect people’s differences. I am different than some people would like me to be. I just don’t buy into that the personal can be political. I just think that’s horsesi*t. No one’s personal life is in the public interest. It’s gossip, bottom line. End of story.”
Say what you think at CollegeCandy.com!
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ironically, i really don’t know where i stand on this,
but i’m really happy with how the piece itself turned out.
hopefully, it reads much better than this does…
“These are people who have no trouble taking their clothes off—in a way, their bodies are their currency. But they’re terrified of exposing their vulnerability, of becoming emotionally naked…When you finally realize that you can just be your own scared, fucked-up self and that you can still be sexy without trying to be, it’s such a great relief. When uncondensed you is enough.”
- Anne Hathaway, Vogue Magazine November 2010
“I can only invent by drawing on what other, brilliant people have written that I can’t write or articulate as brilliantly, and when I read it, it becomes my own.”
- Carey Mulligan, Vogue Magazine October 2010
“Men can be a little careless. Sometimes they need a strong woman to tell them how it is.”
- Christina Aguilera, Cosmopolitan UK October 2010
“I have people who I talk to. I think it’s really important to be able to talk when something’s wrong. I learned at a really young age that if you don’t talk about it, it can drive you insane.”
- Mary-Kate Olsen, Marie Claire September 2010
thank you to all those who have indefinitely lent their ears and shoulders throughout the past six months, and showing me that the secrets to a successful life are unassumed expectations, unrestrained communication and unconditional community. though i havent spent many days working out, being quiet or dating, ive never felt so strong, peaceful and loved in all my life.
“You cannot doubt yourself. Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for…I didn’t experience doubt until later in my life. When I was young, I was just about hard work. But as I got older, I did experience anxiety, doubt, judgment, and it’s so easy to lose yourself for a second. I always joke about letting the haters motivate you. Everybody has that in their life, people who doubt them or make them feel less than they are. It just takes faith and belief in yourself, and you’ve got to dig deep into that. That has to come from you—nobody’s going to give you that. You can have a great mentor, a great partner, a great love in your life who gives you confidence and makes you feel great about yourself. And that’s all wonderful, but at the end of the day, if you don’t believe it, all of that means nothing.”
- Jennifer Lopez, Glamour September 2010
“It’s just that you realize you are not meant to go the distance with everybody…I’m not done with love, but I refuse to settle. I am a hopeless romantic. And I won’t stop till I get it right.”
- Halle Berry, Vogue September 2010
(Berry is the second black woman to appear on the cover of Vogue’s annually anticipated September issue, since Naomi Campbell first did in 1989)
a creative writer typing from LA & SD.
