I truly do not want this to become a celebrity-type blog, despite some of my frivolous Sunday posts. And I am certainly not one to pass judgment on someone's looks (at least not too publicly), lest that attention be turned back to me - and I am no one's idea of a hunk (despite my Fabio-esque hair).
To be truthful, I haven't the ability to be very entertaining about such things either. There are sites (Go Fug Yourself being among them) that do this sort of thing far better than I ever could, and I happily leave that level of snarkitude to them.
However, when someone makes a choice that undercuts their message, it can be worth a comment. If Joe Lieberman were to appear on Meet the Press in a clown suit, it's a choice he's made, and one that would undoubtedly take away from whatever point he was there to make (which, yesterday, was that John McCain is a real he-man dreamboat, but let's not get sidetracked here).
This issue is complicated these days by gender politics, see the controversy over the mentioning of Hillary Clinton's cleavage. Some regarded what these days is a fairly modest outfit as inappropriate if Senator Clinton wants to come off as sober and statesmanlike ("we never saw Estes Kefauver's cleavage, for heaven's sake"), then were attacked by those who thought it inappropriate to comment on such a thing, that it was an attempt to diminish Hillary as a person.
I don't know about all that; it seems to me that there is a limit point somewhere, that Nancy Pelosi should not wear her Hanes for Her and nothing else on the Senate floor (no matter how fetching it may appear on JLH), but I hope I'm evenhanded. I never wanted to see Denny Hastert in a thong, either. But I can't identify for you exactly where that line is for me, and, therefore, can't tell you where you should draw that line.
All that said, Andrea Mitchell needs to stop having plastic surgery, right now! I'm sure that a goodly number of on-camera people, men and women, have had work done, which probably does mean that we focus way too much on the external. But it's a tough business, always looking for the fresh face, even if it's a fresh face on the same old person, and I understand why media people go under the knife.
However, Mitchell has done things to herself that are unnatural, and to me at least, interfere with what she's saying. I remember her as a hard-nosed, if mousy, reporter who impressed with her reporting skills and her smarts. Now she at 61 seems to be shooting for glamor girl, and it's just not working.
What I saw yesterday on Meet the Press wasn't a top political reporter and analyst, but the Joker from the Batman movies. I couldn't find a screen cap, but take my word for it, the way the ends of her mouth unnaturally turn up and the overdone makeup reminded me of nothing so much as Heath Ledger.
If all of that really is a response to what the audience wants, then we have a problem. If it's an attempt to make husband Alan Greenspan look even older in comparison, then their marriage has a problem. Whatever the reason, it needs to stop - maybe Barbara Walters will retire and Andrea can inherit the hair spray and gauze (or the star filter or whatever Barbara uses - after all, she got it from Lucille Ball).
To be truthful, I haven't the ability to be very entertaining about such things either. There are sites (Go Fug Yourself being among them) that do this sort of thing far better than I ever could, and I happily leave that level of snarkitude to them.
However, when someone makes a choice that undercuts their message, it can be worth a comment. If Joe Lieberman were to appear on Meet the Press in a clown suit, it's a choice he's made, and one that would undoubtedly take away from whatever point he was there to make (which, yesterday, was that John McCain is a real he-man dreamboat, but let's not get sidetracked here).
This issue is complicated these days by gender politics, see the controversy over the mentioning of Hillary Clinton's cleavage. Some regarded what these days is a fairly modest outfit as inappropriate if Senator Clinton wants to come off as sober and statesmanlike ("we never saw Estes Kefauver's cleavage, for heaven's sake"), then were attacked by those who thought it inappropriate to comment on such a thing, that it was an attempt to diminish Hillary as a person.
I don't know about all that; it seems to me that there is a limit point somewhere, that Nancy Pelosi should not wear her Hanes for Her and nothing else on the Senate floor (no matter how fetching it may appear on JLH), but I hope I'm evenhanded. I never wanted to see Denny Hastert in a thong, either. But I can't identify for you exactly where that line is for me, and, therefore, can't tell you where you should draw that line.
All that said, Andrea Mitchell needs to stop having plastic surgery, right now! I'm sure that a goodly number of on-camera people, men and women, have had work done, which probably does mean that we focus way too much on the external. But it's a tough business, always looking for the fresh face, even if it's a fresh face on the same old person, and I understand why media people go under the knife.
However, Mitchell has done things to herself that are unnatural, and to me at least, interfere with what she's saying. I remember her as a hard-nosed, if mousy, reporter who impressed with her reporting skills and her smarts. Now she at 61 seems to be shooting for glamor girl, and it's just not working.
What I saw yesterday on Meet the Press wasn't a top political reporter and analyst, but the Joker from the Batman movies. I couldn't find a screen cap, but take my word for it, the way the ends of her mouth unnaturally turn up and the overdone makeup reminded me of nothing so much as Heath Ledger.
If all of that really is a response to what the audience wants, then we have a problem. If it's an attempt to make husband Alan Greenspan look even older in comparison, then their marriage has a problem. Whatever the reason, it needs to stop - maybe Barbara Walters will retire and Andrea can inherit the hair spray and gauze (or the star filter or whatever Barbara uses - after all, she got it from Lucille Ball).
1 comment:
So true. I've been seeing so many horrible faces lately, even in the local stores. I've been wondering if plastic surgeons are being turned loose without completing their residencies. Between plastic surgery and Botox injections, people are starting to look like freaks.
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