Celebrity Squares.

garinda · 30-01-2007, 00:05

At school in the late seventies, I discovered Paris Match in the school library.

A magazine full of photographs of the Grimaldis, Johnny Halliday, and Catherine Deneuve, and very little text. Fascinating.

We certainly didn't have a British equivalent at that time.

We knew that Kevin Keegan had a bad perm and was married, that Prince Charles played polo, and that Brucie and Tarbie played golf.

Besides, we as a country had no interest in what famous people did, or didn't do.

Pat Phoenix may have been stuffing fivers down the g-strings of any number of nubile strippers, but we didn't know, and frankly didn't care.

The word paparazzi was a name only bandied about by a few Fellini film buffs. No one knew who they were, and we certainly didn't have them in Britain at that time.

To me the rot seemed to start in early 1981, when the media started to become obsessed with the young Lady Diana Spencer. A photograph of a decidedly full bossom in a off the shoulder black dress, followed by a pair of shapely pins, seen in shilhouette under a Laura Ashley skirt. As a nation we were hooked.

The seeds were sown, and the great British public watered those seeds, by buying the newspapers, and the magazines devoted to celebrity that followed.

Now we have a multi-million pound industry based around the cult of celebrity. People are famous for being famous, and not for what they do.

I wish we, as a nation, could turn our collective clock back.

Sienna Miller has cellulite.

Duncan from Blue has a lovely home.

Kate Middleton shops at Topshop.

I DON'T DAMN WELL CARE!

cashman · 30-01-2007, 00:13

would agree,a lot of famous people these days are complete *******, who have done sod all to justify their status,just put there to sell papers/magazines. many of the crew in BB justify that statement.

garinda · 30-01-2007, 00:17

Of course I'll have to hold my hands up to watching Celebrity Big Brother, but I see it more as a social experiment.

I'd also happily watch a group of rats in a cage, if they were celebrated or not, and watch as they tried to survive, and cope with adversity.

steeljack · 30-01-2007, 00:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

At school in the late seventies, I discovered Paris Match in the school library.

A magazine full of photographs of the Grimaldis, Johnny Halliday, and Catherine Deneuve, and very little text. Fascinating.

We certainly didn't have a British equivalent at that time.

We knew that Kevin Keegan had a bad perm and was married, that Prince Charles played polo, and that Brucie and Tarbie played golf.

Besides, we as a country had no interest in what famous people did, or didn't do.

Pat Phoenix may have been stuffing fivers down the g-strings of any number of nubile strippers, but we didn't know, and frankly didn't care.

The word paparazzi was a name only bandied about by a few Fellini film buffs. No one knew who they were, and we certainly didn't have them in Britain at that time.

To me the rot seemed to start in early 1981, when the media started to become obsessed with the young Lady Diana Spencer. A photograph of a decidedly full bossom in a off the shoulder black dress, followed by a pair of shapely pins, seen in shilhouette under a Laura Ashley skirt. As a nation we were hooked.

The seeds were sown, and the great British public watered those seeds, by buying the newspapers, and the magazines devoted to celebrity that followed.

Now we have a multi-million pound industry based around the cult of celebrity. People are famous for being famous, and not for what they do.

I wish we, as a nation, could turn our collective clock back.

Sienna Miller has cellulite.

Duncan from Blue has a lovely home.

Kate Middleton shops at Topshop.

I DON'T DAMN WELL CARE!

yep , but without the paparazzi how would all the dressmakers get their tat into the pages of Hello

garinda · 30-01-2007, 00:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by steeljack

yep , but without the paparazzi how would all the dressmakers get their tat into the pages of Hello

Darling Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell managed for decades, without any help from the paps.

steeljack · 30-01-2007, 00:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

Darling Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell managed for decades, without any help from the paps.

true , but the slappers in Burnley and Blackburn don't read the Tatler and Country Life

garinda · 30-01-2007, 00:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by steeljack

true , but the slappers in Burnley and Blackburn don't read the Tatler and Country Life

They just read Harpers & Queen?

The silly gels.

steeljack · 30-01-2007, 00:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

They just read Harpers & Queen?

The silly gels.

nah , they think Harpers is a disease , and the Queens is a Pub

cashman · 30-01-2007, 00:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by steeljack

nah , they think Harpers is a disease , and the Queens is a Pub

they are aren,t they?

garinda · 30-01-2007, 00:50

Over half a million Heat magazines are sold in the UK every week, and that's just one of many titles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_%28magazine%29

steeljack · 30-01-2007, 00:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

Over half a million Heat magazines are sold in the UK every week, and that's just one of many titles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_%28magazine%29

this is the stuff you read while standing/waiting in the supermarket checkout line, then stuff it back into the rack , never actually seen anyone buy a copy , God forbid a neighbour sees you buying garbage like this

garinda · 30-01-2007, 00:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by steeljack

this is the stuff you read while standing/waiting in the supermarket checkout line, then stuff it back into the rack , never actually seen anyone buy a copy , God forbid a neighbour sees you buying garbage like this

Well besides the countless people who stuff it back on the rack, in the UK over half a million people must also leave it to be scanned next to their beans.

junetta · 30-01-2007, 01:13

Slightly off topic.

Maybe not the same magazines but those daft ones that come out every week. Pick Me Up and Take a Break, that sort of thing. I quite enjoy reading them. 'She stole my husband, I'll break her neck' and 'He's been married six times and I didn't know'.

Then you get the tips......... no, I won't go there!

I don't buy them but they seem to do the rounds within the English community here. Not much in the way of fashion though, Rindy.

steeljack · 30-01-2007, 01:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by junetta

Slightly off topic.

Maybe not the same magazines but those daft ones that come out every week. Pick Me Up and Take a Break, that sort of thing. I quite enjoy reading them. 'She stole my husband, I'll break her neck' and 'He's been married six times and I didn't know'.

Then you get the tips......... no, I won't go there!

I don't buy them but they seem to do the rounds within the English community here. Not much in the way of fashion though, Rindy.

you mean ....how do I know if my toys are dishwasher safe

steeljack · 30-01-2007, 05:27

on reflection and thinking about the original theme of the thread I think the first time the paparazzi had any influence in the British press, broadsheet as well as tabloid was when Jean Shrimpton appeared in a 'mini' at the Melbourne Cup in 65 and the British press went ape . The 'event' happened in Australia at a race meet which only Australians have any interest in but the pictures made world headlines at the time especially in the UK
see attached link ,,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Shrimpton
She was what can be described as the first 'supermodel' but the word hadn't been invented then , a real crackerjack

on checking the wikipedia entry I notice she will be 65 this year , where have years gone