Celebrities and their Self
20-04-2007
Everyone has that certain thing which annoys them to the core, so much so that they can feel their blood bubbling at the mere thought of it. For some it may be bank charges, for others its drivers who don’t indicate, or the increase in road tax. For me it’s celebrities who have their own magazine columns, OK, so it isn’t exactly life changing and sure, I could always not buy the magazine with the said celebrity’s smug air-brushed face staring back at me. But for someone who has worked hard over the last four years in fashion journalism, it really makes me want to boycott Big Brother forever (although that hasn’t happened JUST yet).
I have spent three years studying at a well established and rather fabulous University based in the heart of London. Here I endured long lectures, written essays until my hands bled, produced a 15,000 word dissertation along with my own magazine as well as experienced a near nervous breakdown come results day. I also managed to fit in a considerable amount of free work experience which consisted of 3-4 week long placements (all sourced by myself). I graduated last summer and since then I have completed two different month long internships for free and have got written work published within various online e-zines and free titled publications. I still have a long way in pursuing my dream of having my own column in a glossy magazine and I dare say that it will take more internships and working as an assistant before I get any closer.
Jade Goody on the other hand, the loud mouthed, half-witted and rather vulgar ‘reality TV star’ went on Big Brother, humiliated herself, came 3rd in the competition, had a makeover, popped out a few kids and now has a column in a weekly glossy magazine talking about “her views of the week.†Chantelle Houghton, the dim peroxide Essex girl who again, went into the Big Brother house (the Celeb version) fooled her Z -Lister celebrity friends that she too was a Z-lister pop star, won the competition, stole fellow contestant Preston (Ordinary Boys singer) from his fiancé and what does she do now? Oh yes, she has dyed her hair brown, purchased half of Topshop (and a ton of Fake Bake) and has her own column in New! Magazine. {mosimage}Finally, Coleen McLoughlin, the girl next door turned bona fide WAG of Wayne Rooney with too much money a too little style, bagged herself a stylist and a deal with budget brand George at Asda and a weekly column in Closer magazine. I could go on but to date, the following people have managed to get their own columns: Peter Andre, Kerry Katona, Alex Curran (Steve Gerrard’s Wag) Jordan, Michelle Heaton and many more.
The comparison is stark and it makes me question why someone like myself and hundreds of wannabe fashion writers who are qualified, experienced and talented, are having to endure months and even years of unemployment and free work, when these illiterate, unqualified and inexperienced ‘celebrities’ are jumping straight on the bandwagon and getting paid extortionate amounts to do so? When did it stop being about talent and start being about how many hours you have clocked up on a reality TV show, or how rich and famous your boyfriend is?
It wasn’t until the other day after buying 5 weekly glossies in the name of research that I noticed how many magazines have fallen into this celebrity honey trap. The actual columns are badly written, self-obsessed, tacky and frankly, boring. For example to quote Chantelle Houghton, “I’ve had quite a hectic week so I didn’t manage to see my mum on Mothers Day, but I see lots of her so she didn’t get cross.†WOW, now that was worth the 70p I paid for the magazine and really kept me interested in reading more… “Tailored macs, they’re chic, rainproof and come in every colour under the sun!†Well, you have convinced me Chantelle (even though tailored macs are indeed not rainproof and have been mentioned in every magazine ‘under the sun’ over the last few seasons and are nothing new so you can see she put a lot of effort into that ‘piece’). With every word ending with an ‘!’ it is hard to read this page without wanting to rip it up and make a Chantelle fire out of it. They only thing slightly entertaining about her page is the naff pictures of her and the ‘real questions’ that readers have supposedly written in asking where she got her dress from, 99% of the time it’s from Topshop (damn, that girl should get a sponsorship deal).
Other examples are Kelly Osborne who got to ‘edit’ a copy of New Woman magazine and Teri Hatcher (Susan in Desperate Housewives) got to take over as Editor of Glamour magazine. By ‘editing’ that means adding a few pages of pictures of the celeb Editor and an ‘exclusive’ interview. For any of us mere mortals, in order for us to get in the Editor position it would take a good 10-15 years working in the industry and a lot of hard graft.
Whatever happened to well written and informative columns which readers find witty and humorous to read?
The magazines who pay these celebs to write for their publication are clearly lapping up the current craze in celebrity culture and are sure to attract more readers by having some dim wit as their new ‘columnist’ but who are the people that actually read these and think ‘wow this girl can write?’ Answer: teenage girls who aspire to be the next Jade Goody or Coleen McLoughlin. These readers soak in the pages like it’s their bible but what aggravates me is that it is totally against the tradition of journalism standards. Whatever happened to well written and informative columns which readers find witty and humorous to read? This new breed of the celebrity magazine is why our teenagers of the 21st century are more obsessed with image, fame and TV than they are about getting a career where you actually have to work to achieve your goals. A survey conducted in New Woman magazine, in which they quizzed 3,000 young women, discovered that many young women dream of living the life of luxury like the WAG’s of footballers such as Coleen McLoughlin et al. They want wealth and status without the hassle of a demanding career.
However, those who do want a career, especially in the world of lifestyle journalism have to work twice as hard because it isn’t the women who have got a first class degree or a mother who works in publishing who are getting the jobs, but the celebrities. If this is going to be the case for the foreseeable future, they should consider putting warning adverts alongside University course descriptions ‘Please note that people who are not in the celebrity / reality TV circle will not be expected to get full- time paid employment after graduation for approximately 3 years or more.’
I, in the meantime am boycotting the weekly glossy magazines in the hope that it will decrease my blood pressure and help me restore my positive attitude. Give me a copy of Vogue any day!
By Kyrsty Hazell
