Loving Paris Hilton
At my age, I take a paternal interest in Paris. Not. And certainly not a maternal interest, like snarky Nora Ephron.
Yes, Paris is hot, but she’s easy to make fun of. I admit I love her because you, the reader, loves her–the top search terms on this blog include paris hilton, Paris Hilton, PARIS HILTON, Paris-Hilton, Paris in jail, etc. But you only come here because I write about her.
So why do I write about her? Isn’t she stupid? Vapid? A no-talent? Racist and possibly anti-Semitic? A ? (To many, another reason to love her.) A Bible-banger? A Buddhist?
I write about her because she is a phenomenon. People care not only about what she wears and where she goes, but about her. To her fans, Paris has fashion sense, sass, looks, attitude–in short, all the elements of style. Put it all together and she’s a real attention-getter.
Is it all about being rich and a socialite? Partly–but being rich doesn’t make you a generation’s “It Girl”. Whatever “it” is, she’s got it–and her fans want it. She started as a model–so why does everyone expect her to be a role model?
It’s easy to understand why people (over) focus on Paris Hilton or Jordin from American Idol, when the real news is this grim. The news business is an entertainment business; give the people what they want. And Paris, friendly to photographers and starring on TV, has become this generation’s people’s princess.
Paris may be a millionaire many times over, but she’s got the common touch. Who can’t relate to her claustrophobia, her not wanting to be alone, her making a mistake by drinking and driving? Who doesn’t take medication? Who doesn’t like to go out dancing? Who doesn’t think they’ve been unjustly punished? Who doesn’t see herself as a dutiful daughter, a good girl who ‘confessed’ to Larry King that she’ll go to Mass?
And who doesn’t think like Paris does that “the right guy is out there”, and when she finds him, she’ll have a big family because she “loves children?”
Paris has been a girl who just wants to have fun–just like her fans. And maybe now, after her sobering experience, those fans will watch her growing up.
