The Reluctant Whore

How intriguing that the new publicity grabbing celebrity trend is one that negates its own existence. First there was Angelina Jolie who insisted journalists sign a contract stating that they would only ask her questions about the movie she was in, then Posh Spice last week did the same basic thing except it was not about a movie – obviously – it was about the reality show type documentary that showed her moving to America. Now, the religiously refreshed and entitled Madonna is jumping on the bandwagon and setting up a whole set of rules with publicists and journalists to ensure that she gets some reaction.

Eye contact had to be maintained at all times and reporters were never to look down to check notes, all questions had to be memorised or the interview was terminated.
Presenters were also forbidden to ask about husband Guy Ritchie, her controversial Kaballah religion and their recent adoption of Malawian baby David. Instead, all questions had to be about Live Earth.

Apart from the fact that making inane, arbitrary demands for the expressed purpose of getting attention, it would be interesting to see Madonna do her job on stage without the myriad of props and special effects she employs to help exemplify her extravagant ego. Still, it’s nice to see someone insisting on eye contact and this is really just the kind of subversion you’d expect from Madonna – although, she didn’t really come up with the idea first which is odd. It’s also really “White House does Alberto Gonzales”. How new and now and progressive to channel political deception into pop.

On some level you can also understand where Jolie was coming from because she was leveraging the magazines for the most money but Posh? Hi, like Anderson Cooper, Posh, your entire schtick is your personal life. There’s nothing else there to ask about; she shops, doesn’t eat, is unburdened by any real talent or quest for critical acclaim, David Beckham inexplicably has sex with her and chases publicity like a starved cat runs for a mouse. Even if journalists were to only ask about the show; the show is entirely about her personal life. Is all this so obvious it’s astounding? [source] [source]