What's he on about now?

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   Thursday, October 17, 2002

BOO HOO

A follow-up to my rant last week about Madonna plugging her new film on Larry King Live ("You will love this movie," the apparently-clairvoyant Larry hollered at the camera) -- her spokesperson Liz Rosenberg described the critical reaction to "Swept Away" as "a public hanging by the critics, an assassination. Give the girl a break already! Stop being so mean! I can't believe the level of rage being directed against her. It's a sad state that these critics are taking such joy in it." Funny, I read a review in Entertainment Weekly that gave the film a B, but it was a rage-filled B, I could tell.

It's hilarious that Madonna's publicist expects the public to feel sorry for the singer because she can't make a good movie. It's as though we just don't love Madonna enough, dammit! It reminds me of the angry new Whitney Houston song in which she shrieks, "Why you lookin' at meeeeee?" Well I don't know, Whitney, maybe it's the way you've spent two decades yelling, "Look at me!"

There's enough uncritical celebrity-worship in our culture without demanding more (or, in Whitney's case, better) devotion. Artists and entertainers cannot expect the public to line up and purchase any bit of dandruff they cast off, no matter how passionately their publicists and parent companies insist we do. Sorry, Madonna, but we're harder to impress than Larry King.