Secrets and Lies

Post Secret is a very well known site that consists entirely of "secrets" mailed anonymously from all over the world although being US based has an inevitable US weighting.

The secrets range from the bizarre to the tragic, from the horrific to the trivial and come from all types of people in all types of situation.

It seems to be a form of 21st Century confessional at least as far as those sending in secrets generally seem to feel some sort of release from sharing their secret.

There is undoubtedly a voyeuristic element to reading other people's secrets but as they are from unknown people it seems relatively harmless. The appeal of the site comes from the sharing of secrets and realising that a secret is actually not so unique but often a similar issue to one shared by many others.

The above postcard struck my eye as one that summed up the general status of "celebrities" in these times. While many may shrug their shoulders and say "not me" to the idea of being much concerned with the lives and fates of hollywood stars or soap opera actors, I suspect when expanded to its widest definition to include sports stars, tv hosts and even politicians, many more of us are to some extent "guilty" of this secret. Celebrity in its widest definition seems more interesting and more exciting than some of those in our own families. The fact that the cult of celebrity is essentially one lie and this interest will never be reciprocated goes overlooked. This is sad as it is times of trouble that only relatives can and will help.

Thank you to the poster of this secret for reminding us of one of the big lies in everyday life- the lie that celebrities matter and count for anything much.

Shilpa back in the House (another House)

This was quite funny. A reflection on how much politicians love to use the power of celebrity. All of us who ever follow celebrity matters can take some of the blame.....................


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1350461.ece

Particularly telling is the fact that Shilpa met more ministers than the average Head of State does on a state visit including six minutes with the Prime Minister, Tony Blair:


"She had lunch with Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, and an embarrassing number of other ministers. All in all, Shilpa is believed to have met six Cabinet Ministers. They were Peter Hain, Jack Straw, Harriet Harman, Hazel Blears, plus Tessa and TB. At the last moment, Home Secretary John Reid had to cancel. That is how busy he is now."

The end of Goody in sight ?

Today was an example of how the media can create a storm out of something very trivial. It was an example of how deeper issues can be explored by using something mundane and how stories take on a life of their own.

A couple of days after the bullying of Shilpa Shetty by 3 of her Big Brother House mates (Jade, Danielle and Jo) reached an unacceptable level virtually every British paper and news progamme has given it coverage. This is an extrordinary level of publicity for a "game" between a group of celebrities many of whom have seen better days or are not so well known.

However once the race factor had been introduced it became clear that Jade Goody's celebrity career may die in the same place that it was born- the Big Brother House. Major corporate sponsors like Carphone Warehouse muttered about withdrawing sponsorship understandably nervous about their brand becoming associated with an ignorant band of bigots. They could cope with ignorance but when racial bigotry appeared to be involved the corporates got nervous.

The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, even commented in the House of Commons although he did not attempt to gain popularity by pretending to watch Celebrity Big Brother. That might have happened 10 years ago, but now he simply condemned the situation involving Jade's gang that was described to him.

Big Brother went global and the London Evening Standard hoardings proclaimed "India erupts against Big Brother". The victim-heroine of this saga is one of India's daughters so the incident caused embarrassment for supposed future-PM, Gordon Brown as he visited India.

The Indian foreign minister spoke of an "appropriate response" to the abuse of Shilpa ? Surely not a war over Big Brother ?!!

Shilpa's Mother was even interviewed on Sky News to speak of her pride in her daughter's dignity. All in all, a steam in a media tea cup but a storm that speaks of race, of class, of culture and of how Britain as a nation treats outsiders.

In the Big Brother House, Germaine Jackson, Dirk Benedict together with Shilpa form the "foreign group" of two Americans and an Indian. They seem bermused by the 3 unpleasant examples of the British female they are forced to live with.

Tonight some relief may be in sight. It appears Jade Goody together with Shilpa have been nominated for eviction. Surely there will be some common sense and we can all say goodbye to Miss. Goody on Friday ?

Beauty or the Beast ? The people will decide....................

Monday morning therapy !

Aahhhhhgggg- it's nearly Monday morning. Well I felt like that in my last job anyway.

Still for those of you looking for a brief distraction I can recommend uploading a photo of yourself into this website where using the latest face recognition technology (allegedly) they will come up with the celebrity faces most like your own.

http://www.myheritage.com/

In my case they seem quite a range:

Steve Buscemi (actor)
Rowan Atkinson (actor- well Mr. Bean- great !)
Ashlee Simpson- a flattering if unexpected comparison !
Alexander Lukashenko- Dictator of Bylorussia !
Travis Tritt- aging rocker
Raoul Bova- Italian actor !
Joshua Jackson- former Dawson's Creek hunk
Harold Wilson- former British Prime Minister

Conclusion: Concerned about Mr. Bean and Alexander Lukashenko. The other chaps I've hardly heard of. My genes definitely come out better in female form :-) I'll never look at Ashlee Simpson in the same way again :-)