Do I seem like a Vogue
reader?
I didn't think so either. But I am. Reluctantly. The husband has done a
boatload of traveling over the years. On numerous airlines. As such, he
had ten thousand frequent flyer miles on United: an airline we cannot
ever afford to fly unless someone else buys the ticket because
Northworst has Twin Cities International locked up tight. The miles
were to expire in December and we weren't likely to fly United any time
in the near future to keep them active. Nor, as we saw it, was there
any need to keep them active. Along with the expiration letter they
sent us this handy dandy magazine ordering form: x number of
miles=certain magazine subscriptions. The husband opted for Cigar Aficianado. I opted for Conde Nast Traveler and, because there were some miles left over and nothing else I wanted to order, I got Vogue for shits and giggles.
So, I must admit, it's been fun turning the pages of Vogue
these past couple of months, looking at the ads, smelling the perfume
samplers. It's brought my youth back to me. I have to say, however, I'm
finding the celebrity portraits to be a hoot. They're so different
than, say, a Vanity Fair profile. Their reporters actually make
sure to include some reference to fashion and makeup in the profile.
Like I said, a hoot. Until said celebrity says something offensive and
assumes no one will notice because it's published in Vogue, of course, and no one reads Vogue: they only pick it up to look at the pictures.
This month's profile is on Cate Blanchett. And look at the whopper she let slip in her interview.
"I think you only understand Australia from going into the dead heart of the country where you travel for so long, and when you get there, from a white perspective, there's nothing." She's appalled at the recent election {Australian}result: "The terrible thing that this current government reveals about us is our absolute deep racism. There's a very, very dark side to it that I possibly understand a little better having been away from it. I don't think Australia can ever be tamed."Bitch, please. I know she's a citizen and she has the right to her opinion---yadda, yadda, yadda--- but just once could we have an actor who doesn't get to spout their various uneducated opinions in print? Could we have an editor who says, "No, don't you dare print that political crap! We're not a political magazine. We're Vogue for chrissakes! We write about couture! We write about makeup! We write about shoes! We do not write about politics! Would that be possible? Never mind that Cate's claim of racism lacks specificity. It's not really all that important because we have big brains to work out the problem! Hmmmm. I wonder what she could possibly be talking about. Hmmmm. Any ideas, kids? Oh, I know. Of course {insert slap to the forehead here} She's talking about fighting terrorism, isn't she? I'm assuming that's what she's talking about. Ya think? I haven't heard of any big upcoming Aussie government programs to spear and fry all the Aborigines for dinner because they have a different skin color, so that couldn't be be what she's talking about. It has to be terrorism. Or maybe you think, like I do, that perhaps when she's leveling a charge of racism that perhaps she should temper her words and make her allegations of racism specific? Just so that there's no confusion as to what, precisely, she finds racist. From her statement why, by golly, it seems as if she finds not only John Howard to be a big fat racist, but anyone who might have voted for him as well. She slaps the tar on with a big brush, does Cate. And, of course, she's the only one who understands that because she's been away from it for a while. She's in the movies. I hear that there's a lot of travel required with that job. I suppose she could just shut the hell up, but she's a celebrity and we all know that celebrities are people, too. {insert crocodile tear here} Posted by Kathy at November 1, 2004 11:54 PM | TrackBack