The Reluctant Whore

What was way more entertaining was watching Anderson Cooper on 360 straight after. He could barely BARELY contain his outrage at the fact that she even exists – continuously inserting his own little bitchy critiques on her character wherever possible. What’s interesting about Anderson Cooper doing this story is that way more of it is about him pitching his angle than it is about the story itself.

When Keith Olbermann said that Anderson Cooper’s schtick IS private life he was spot on. He’s a good journalist but he’s certainly no Christiane Amanpour or solid, reliable anchor and so here we are a nightly show that draws on alternate properties to maintain its relevance.

So, what do we get with Anderson? We get constant personally fuelled rage at Paris for not doing as much with her resources as perhaps would be admirable. Unlike…say…HE did, because remember, he’s a Vanderbilt. Just in case you forgot. Similarly, while Larry King has a simpler show format and, as Ken Sunshine pointed out – deserves kudos for actually getting through the hour with Paris not giving up anything at all – Anderson, with his apparent rage and annoyance at the time news organisations were giving to Paris, spent almost his entire show obsessing over her and using as many different journalistic ways as he possibly could to point out that she is a bad example of the rich and famous.

One great moment was when one of his panelists actually pointed out the similarities between Anderson and Paris and Anderson immediately roped it all back in and tried to uncomfortably toss the attention on his private life aside. Kind of like a celebrity who does charity work for the good karma and screams for no one to talk about it.