The Looking Glass
I don’t care if you’ve been hiding in Hitler’s bunker, you’ve no doubt heard about Anna Nicole Smith’s death by now. It’s been all over every cable news station and just about every online news source. You can’t turn on CNN or Fox News without either hearing more news about the situation or a commercial about more news about the situation.
This has no doubt spawned countless complaints, editorials, and articles from viewers and talking heads alike. They don’t like the coverage and endless talk about the circumstances of her death. I’m sure the irony of this hasn’t been missed by most of you, my intelligent readers. And this IS irony. Not the Alanis Morissette version of irony. The real irony.
Bill O’Reilly even had a segment complaining about how the coverage of Anna Nicole Smith has supplanted real news. This is coming from a guy who dedicates whole segments of his show to feud with other talk show hosts. I can see his segment segue now. “I am OUTRAGED at how the coverage of Anna Nicole Smith has overridden every single last important story today! Barely a peep about Iraq, North Korea, or abortions! So I’m done with it! No more talk about Anna Nicole Smith or other fictitious news. On to real news. Let’s turn to the (*dun dun dun*) War On Christmas!” My eyes roll into the back of my head at the mere thought.
There are only two reasons, that this writer can think of anyway, why the newswire is full of Anna Nicole Smith up-to-the-second reports. Either the news networks have an agenda or we, the people, want to hear about it. I don’t think they have an Anna Nicole Smith agenda, so I can only surmise that we want to hear about it.
Ridiculous. Why would we want to know about the sordid details of Anna Nicole Smith’s life and the turns that led to her death? Preposterous.
And yet here we are, watching the massive shiny television screen. Clicking, irresistibly, on the online story along with photos of Anna Nicole Smith in bed with the Bahamas Prime Minister. What a nasty woman. That bitch.
There are some that decry the fact that we didn’t pay this much attention when Don Knotts died, or even Red Buttons. They would be correct too. We didn’t. Those two also aren’t part of our current consciousness. They also didn’t die at the age of 39 in a hotel room. They also weren’t blonde, big-boobed, beautiful babes; people that are supposed to have perfect lives.
Is that it? Was Anna Nicole Smith supposed to have a perfect life? Is that what we, as a society, expected? Do you know even one single person that has had a perfect life? Even one? Why would we expect such a thing of Anna Nicole Smith?
Anna Nicole Smith married at the age of 16, had a child by 17, and was divorced by 18. She never graduated from high school and eventually became a stripper. Sure sounds like life started out right.
Then she became a Playboy bunny. She met oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II. Which one came first, I don’t know. She married the $1.6 billionaire. He died a year later and she claimed half his estate in a lawsuit. His family sued back. She won $450 million. The Supreme Court supported her. The case was overturned. The Supreme Court wants to hear the case again. She got a TV show. We watched it. She got pregnant with her second child. She married her attorney. She is constantly sued by all sorts of people, basically anyone that breathes air. She has a baby girl. Her son dies. She dies. Whew!
I know that was a quick summary. I assumed you really already knew most of it.
Well, America hates this woman. She’s a greedy, no-good, gold-digging, stupid, shallow, worthless piece of garbage.
Yet, America loves this woman. She’s blonde, beautiful, famous, skinny and voluptuous, rich, and accessible. Better yet, she fought her way out of the bottom.
So why all the lawsuits?
I can’t defend her actions. However, I CAN tell you this. If I were a vulture, I would have sued her the minute I came in contact with her. She has horrible public relations. Her image is completely shot. There isn’t much face to lose by suing her. Furthermore, most people would think she deserves it. I’d sue her for sure. IF, I were a vulture.
I’m not saying she didn’t deserve to be sued, because frankly I don’t know and I think I’m right when I say most of you don’t know either. What I AM saying is she is an easy mark. An easy mark potentially worth $450 million. I don’t think I need say more about this.
Anna Nicole Smith wasn’t innocent. No doubt, a fair amount of scheming was involved in many of the decisions she made, or were made for her. For that, does she deserve our scorn? For recognizing that she would never be a rocket scientist, and had to use other means to make her fortune? At least she did something about it. I don’t think she ever spent a day sleeping on a steam grate with a blanket downtown.
An aside, being a rocket scientist these days might be one rung below crazy. We, of course, knew that already.
Anna Nicole Smith bumbled through life. Like Anna in Wonderland, she bumbled from place to place, decision to decision. One adventure after another. It started like it ended. She lived a life of high adventure, and unfortunately for her, not enough smarts to see the danger. So, for that does she deserve our scorn? For not making wise decisions? It’s not like the life or the money is ours or would ever be ours.
Who doesn’t bumble through life sometimes?
Sometimes I wonder if Anna Nicole Smith isn’t really just some trick. A grander scheme than we realize maybe. Have you ever been to one of those fun houses where those mirrors amplify your waistline, or your feet, or maybe your head. I hate those mirrors. They make the normal parts of me look outrageous. I like the way I look. Is Anna Nicole Smith an amplification of ourselves? When we look into the looking glass, is Anna Nicole Smith our alternate reality? The ugliness that we don’t like in ourselves? The physical beauty we wish we had? The money? The drugs? The carelessness? The wrecklessness all blown up on the silver screen?
America loves an underdog. America also hates attention whores. America loves individuality. America hates people that are different. America loves a good success story. America hates it when people get too far ahead. We as a society embody all of these things, no matter how diametrically opposed they seem. You know what? Anna Nicole Smith embodied all of these too.
Watching the news reports about her, I have a hint of shame. Shame because like many, I am guilty of building her up and tearing her down. She’s dead, and although I didn’t know her personally, I can’t help but feel like my own bumbling, my own ideals, my own loathing of her, helped inch her over the edge, along with everyone else’s inch.
The looking glass has two sides. Watching the volcano that was Anna Nicole’s life is like watching our own tempestuous lives. And we shake our heads when we see it. What happened is ugly. When you look into the looking glass, what do you see?
This has no doubt spawned countless complaints, editorials, and articles from viewers and talking heads alike. They don’t like the coverage and endless talk about the circumstances of her death. I’m sure the irony of this hasn’t been missed by most of you, my intelligent readers. And this IS irony. Not the Alanis Morissette version of irony. The real irony.
Bill O’Reilly even had a segment complaining about how the coverage of Anna Nicole Smith has supplanted real news. This is coming from a guy who dedicates whole segments of his show to feud with other talk show hosts. I can see his segment segue now. “I am OUTRAGED at how the coverage of Anna Nicole Smith has overridden every single last important story today! Barely a peep about Iraq, North Korea, or abortions! So I’m done with it! No more talk about Anna Nicole Smith or other fictitious news. On to real news. Let’s turn to the (*dun dun dun*) War On Christmas!” My eyes roll into the back of my head at the mere thought.
There are only two reasons, that this writer can think of anyway, why the newswire is full of Anna Nicole Smith up-to-the-second reports. Either the news networks have an agenda or we, the people, want to hear about it. I don’t think they have an Anna Nicole Smith agenda, so I can only surmise that we want to hear about it.
Ridiculous. Why would we want to know about the sordid details of Anna Nicole Smith’s life and the turns that led to her death? Preposterous.
And yet here we are, watching the massive shiny television screen. Clicking, irresistibly, on the online story along with photos of Anna Nicole Smith in bed with the Bahamas Prime Minister. What a nasty woman. That bitch.
There are some that decry the fact that we didn’t pay this much attention when Don Knotts died, or even Red Buttons. They would be correct too. We didn’t. Those two also aren’t part of our current consciousness. They also didn’t die at the age of 39 in a hotel room. They also weren’t blonde, big-boobed, beautiful babes; people that are supposed to have perfect lives.
Is that it? Was Anna Nicole Smith supposed to have a perfect life? Is that what we, as a society, expected? Do you know even one single person that has had a perfect life? Even one? Why would we expect such a thing of Anna Nicole Smith?
Anna Nicole Smith married at the age of 16, had a child by 17, and was divorced by 18. She never graduated from high school and eventually became a stripper. Sure sounds like life started out right.
Then she became a Playboy bunny. She met oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II. Which one came first, I don’t know. She married the $1.6 billionaire. He died a year later and she claimed half his estate in a lawsuit. His family sued back. She won $450 million. The Supreme Court supported her. The case was overturned. The Supreme Court wants to hear the case again. She got a TV show. We watched it. She got pregnant with her second child. She married her attorney. She is constantly sued by all sorts of people, basically anyone that breathes air. She has a baby girl. Her son dies. She dies. Whew!
I know that was a quick summary. I assumed you really already knew most of it.
Well, America hates this woman. She’s a greedy, no-good, gold-digging, stupid, shallow, worthless piece of garbage.
Yet, America loves this woman. She’s blonde, beautiful, famous, skinny and voluptuous, rich, and accessible. Better yet, she fought her way out of the bottom.
So why all the lawsuits?
I can’t defend her actions. However, I CAN tell you this. If I were a vulture, I would have sued her the minute I came in contact with her. She has horrible public relations. Her image is completely shot. There isn’t much face to lose by suing her. Furthermore, most people would think she deserves it. I’d sue her for sure. IF, I were a vulture.
I’m not saying she didn’t deserve to be sued, because frankly I don’t know and I think I’m right when I say most of you don’t know either. What I AM saying is she is an easy mark. An easy mark potentially worth $450 million. I don’t think I need say more about this.
Anna Nicole Smith wasn’t innocent. No doubt, a fair amount of scheming was involved in many of the decisions she made, or were made for her. For that, does she deserve our scorn? For recognizing that she would never be a rocket scientist, and had to use other means to make her fortune? At least she did something about it. I don’t think she ever spent a day sleeping on a steam grate with a blanket downtown.
An aside, being a rocket scientist these days might be one rung below crazy. We, of course, knew that already.
Anna Nicole Smith bumbled through life. Like Anna in Wonderland, she bumbled from place to place, decision to decision. One adventure after another. It started like it ended. She lived a life of high adventure, and unfortunately for her, not enough smarts to see the danger. So, for that does she deserve our scorn? For not making wise decisions? It’s not like the life or the money is ours or would ever be ours.
Who doesn’t bumble through life sometimes?
Sometimes I wonder if Anna Nicole Smith isn’t really just some trick. A grander scheme than we realize maybe. Have you ever been to one of those fun houses where those mirrors amplify your waistline, or your feet, or maybe your head. I hate those mirrors. They make the normal parts of me look outrageous. I like the way I look. Is Anna Nicole Smith an amplification of ourselves? When we look into the looking glass, is Anna Nicole Smith our alternate reality? The ugliness that we don’t like in ourselves? The physical beauty we wish we had? The money? The drugs? The carelessness? The wrecklessness all blown up on the silver screen?
America loves an underdog. America also hates attention whores. America loves individuality. America hates people that are different. America loves a good success story. America hates it when people get too far ahead. We as a society embody all of these things, no matter how diametrically opposed they seem. You know what? Anna Nicole Smith embodied all of these too.
Watching the news reports about her, I have a hint of shame. Shame because like many, I am guilty of building her up and tearing her down. She’s dead, and although I didn’t know her personally, I can’t help but feel like my own bumbling, my own ideals, my own loathing of her, helped inch her over the edge, along with everyone else’s inch.
The looking glass has two sides. Watching the volcano that was Anna Nicole’s life is like watching our own tempestuous lives. And we shake our heads when we see it. What happened is ugly. When you look into the looking glass, what do you see?
posted by Tyler at 11:57 AM
1 Comments:
Indeed. Are people judging Anna Nicole Smith or are they judging themselves? Or perhaps we take the red pill and say... it is the same thing.
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