Skip to main content

La Liz...

Elizabeth Taylor died today. And I feel… a way about it. Not really devastated or anything. But more like… it’s the end of something. The end of an era. (I don’t like that phrase, it is cliché and kind of boring, but it fits.)

Like so many other things, they don’t make stars like they used to. Elizabeth Taylor was one of those stars with the untouchable glamour. There was a level of class that you could just see. You looked at her and knew that she was special. She was clearly beautiful, clearly talented, but there was something else about her. She had “legend” written all over her. When do you suppose the legend status got attributed to her? National Velvet? Butterfield 8? North & South? The Simpson’s? (Simpson’s, she did the voice of Maggie) So basically somewhere between National Velvet and The Simpson’s she became THE legendary, Dame Elizabeth Taylor.

I suppose the question is what makes a legend? Do you have to have been in the game (whatever that game is… sports, acting etc) for a certain amount of years? Do you have to have accomplished something extraordinary or special? What is considered special? Was she special because she was beautiful and talented? Was she extraordinary because she was a wife 8 times over? Was she special because she did time at Betty Ford? Was she an extraordinary she was a mother, grand-mother and great-grandmother? Was she special because of her commitment to AIDS? Perhaps one or two or all of those attributes? Perhaps in spite of them? I don’t know. I’m just asking.

I do think that there has to be a certain classic quality that a legend has to have. You can’t be a flash in the pan. Is it possible to gyrate your way into legend-hood? One can argue that Michael Jackson moon walked his way in.

Do you remember that song by Britney Spears? “Gimmie More”? The male voice in the song refers to Britney as legendary. Every time I hear that I sort of roll my eyes. Britney Spears…legendary? Notorious? Sure. Infamous? You betcha. Legendary? Not so much. Maybe in about 20 to 30 years and frankly I doubt it. As talented and beautiful as some of our leading actresses of today are, I just don’t know if we are creating legends. Scarlett Johansson doesn’t scream legendary to me.

Again, I wasn’t a rabid fan of Elizabeth Taylor, and will likely rarely (if ever) think of her or her films. However, her death after 69 years in the entertainment industry, did strike me significant.

Comments

  1. I love the way people always call people legends AFTER they die. What really got me was the fuss made over Michael Jackson when he died! And all these people are talking about what "class" Liz Taylor had and how no actress today can live up to that. Really? Because I recall hearing plenty of stories of scandalous behavior from her during her day. (Running off with Debbie Reynolds's husband, for one...) I imagine 50 years from now, when Angelina Jolie died, she'll be remembered as a legend and people will say nobody has HER class, conveniently forgetting her Billy Bob Thornton days...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha! How "classy" was Liz, when she was servicing Eddie Fisher--who was married to her friend Debbie? You're right Stephanie... Re: Angelina's "class" postmortem. I don't know about that, how can anyone forget her sucking face with Billy Bob and ummm her brother?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guess who's back, back again? April's back, tell a friend.

Guess who's back, back again. Shady's back, tell a friend. Guess who's back, guess who's back, Guess who's back. Guess who's back? -Emenim   I know. MIA for 5 months. Where have I been? I’ve been here and there. Lurking. Watching.   Not a whole lot to say. When you don’t have anything worth listening to, in my opinion, you should say nothing.   Clearly not everyone feels that way, based on what I’ve been reading.  Weight Loss:    Laughable really.   A part of the reason why I have opted to say nothing is because I’ve been reading other blogs.   I have felt… dumbfounded   that people who have been struggling with weight loss for years and are disappointed in themselves, don’t   seem to want to DO anything about it.   What is worse, I think, are the followers who are co-signing this behavior.   While I am all for forgiving ones self, there is way too much talk of “forgiveness”.     Listen, I know all about failed weight loss attempts.   I have

Day 7 and April's a Fool

Day 7 One of the many things that I am going to work on this year is duh, my weight.  While it was tempting, I opted out of Al ’s plan.  Not sure why exactly, I just did.  I enjoy Alan a lot. There’s a lot of charm in his alleged gruffness. Oh, it’s alleged. I don’t think he’s mean. I think he’s fed up with excuses, his own and everyone else’s.  He’s lost a ton of weight—he’s doing something right. Haters will hate and really should fuck off. I toyed with joining WW…AGAIN.  I haven’t yet…I still might.  Something about joining a plan that I have joined at least 10 times in the past, just seemed so cliché to me.  I also am feeling like I don’t want to pay for the plan. I am in a financial cliff of my own lately, and don’t feel like shelling out $40 bucks a month for a plan that I already know works, because I’ve lost and gained about 100lbs following it.   So what have I been doing these past 7 days?   I have been not just watching what I eat, but actually eating with a

Day 2

I wonder what it is about being on a diet that makes you crave things you haven’t eaten in while.   Yesterday I thought about cake, a lot. Mind you I am not a cake eater per se, but there I was thinking about cake. Oh the brain of a compulsive food addict is something to behold.  My day yesterday was pretty good. I stayed on the plan, ate what I was supposed to etc…until last night at around 9 pm I had a spoonful of peanut butter. FUCK!   It’s the weirdest thing. I don’t have any “bad” foods at home. I got rid of everything. But last night, I found myself wandering around the kitchen, opening the freezer, fridge and cabinets just looking for something to nosh on.   I don’t think I was hungry I was…I don’t know…something. But I had the peanut butter. I’m annoyed at myself but I’m back at it today. I’ve had my cheerios , blueberries and milk. My lunch—salad with 3oz of tuna is ready for me. Dinner will be salmon, left over quinoa (I swear that stuff explodes) from last night, a