Now, Grace Kelly had looks and could act. While I think Hitchcock is overrated, can you imagine MM butchering Kelly’s noted roles? MM in Breakfast At Tiffany’s? C’mon. But, if comparing her in talent to ANS is your yardstick, then she’s only good looking in comparison top Roseanne Barr, or Oprah Winfrey. Setting a low bar is not a ringing endorsement.

Dying was a good career move for both women.

It’s a purely superficial comparison. Just about their looks. When they both looked their best, they were the best looking, most gorgeous women I’ve ever seen. They just had a lot in common because of their beauty. Especially in photos. Gorgeous when the camera caught them just right.

I would say that Anna Nicole Smith was to Marilyn Monroe like Whitney Houston was to Barbara Streisand.

With an important difference, of course. Whitney Houston had a tremendous talent that she just let go right down the drain.

Maybe ANS had talent but rose to the occasion of her audience. Obviously, *they* didn’t expect much. It’s too bad.

She’s known now because she fucked the Kennedys. I laugh whenever I hear people who knew her, esp. men, claim she was smart, or talented (perhaps with her tongue). Have you ever watched her movies? She was not Lucille Ball, nor even Doris Day. And, as far as sex appeal, MM was white trash. Grace Kelly beat her in every way. As did Audrey Hepburn.

ANS was no winner, but their similarities are astounding. Their biggest difference was that ANS was even dumber. She fucked losers like that Kato Kaelin look alike- not exactly RFK, JFK, Art Miller, or Joe D. So, MM was a higher class whore. Great. How about some philosophy?

PS. Comparing ANS to Monroe is sacrilege.

By the way, Rita Cosby just promo’d an exclusive tour of the autopsy room where Anna was examined. Closeups of the instruments. “Fascinating,” says Rita.

Digusting, says me.

Baywatch will live on in syndication and a whole new generation of pubescent boys will pantingly marvel at Pam’s substantial assets.

I was not around during Monroe’s days but did they not both provide the same service to the general public? Blonde bombshell. Every generation has to have one. We are lucky enough to have two. The other even more talented: Pamela Anderson

Monroe married for love? She loved both DiMaggio and Miller? Was she also in love with JFK? I suppose its possible.

How many Americans fit this description? They are very similar. Monroe was probably smarter and handled her career better. A more successful career no doubt and a better actress but from every account I have seen, Monroe was the most difficult and frustrating actress to work with. Her costars hated her for her unprofessionalism.

I am no Monroe biographer but they appear to me to be quite similar. Years ago stars were expected to be multi talented. (How many movie stars today can tap dance like Cagney?) Today stars are more one dimensional. This might set them apart as Monroe also recorded music and such but they basically filled the same position in their own respective eras.

I feel silly even discussing this.

It is indeed a sickness in our society that we completely ignore the things that matter (like the war) and instead endlessly consume titillating nonsense that makes no contribution to the betterment of mankind in any way, and doesn’t even pretend to.

If my comments seemed mean, so be it, but she was symbolic of the *problem* our society is stuck in, as long as there are Anna Nicoles and Paris Hiltons to keep us distracted, the hole we are in just gets deeper and deeper.

I agree that the news is skewed. The media’s priorities are twisted. What does that say about us? But what does it say about you that you need to make your point by trashing Smith. A woman nobody has accused of being mean or of harming anyone. You are being just as sensational in your critique of the news as you accuse them of being.

From the few episodes of her show I saw she struck me as a very troubled but kind person. And that can be said of many, many around us. And not all of us make great sacrifices for humanity. And they/we/you/I are not all bedsores because of it.

Smith’s death doesn’t really effect me. But I felt sad for her and the tragedies leading up to her death and I therefore felt the need to defend her.

And I don’t buy that we care about ANS because she was closer to us or more like us or whatever. You can’t care about people who remain all but invisible on our screens. Show some grieving people for more than a 10-second pullback shot, go back to their house and interview them a year later, people will care. You have to see something for longer than the length of an explosion in a video game in order to feel.

But who is willing to do that? As Brendan points out in his comment, the idea that news serves any sort of public-spirited function is today regarded as quaint.

Yep, you’re seen as a Self-Righteous Wet Blanket if you say anything at all. It’s sad.

I’ve been avoiding TV all week, so I haven’t seen all the Anna hoopla. It’s all just easier. That’s all. Easier to talk about, easier to understand, easier to listen to. Just easier. It’s lazy entertainment. I wouldn’t want to live my life like she did and be remembered for what she’s going to be remembered for — but, there are all kinds.

Every word that woman uttered was memorable. Nobody could skewer a worshiped institution like she could, with so few words!

What a loss.

And Anna Nicole is all over the papers today. “The Scandalous Life of Anna Nicole Smith” “TV Personality Dies” etc. >>

Now mind you, I kinda liked old Anna Nicole. She reminded me of the golddigging showgirls in the Busby Berkeley movies I loved. But even a mild call for a teensy bit of perspective was greeted with remarks like “Some people feel the need to let us all know how superior they are, how they care about ‘real
issues.’” “Life is wonderful on my high horse.” “Why do poeple insist on doing the ‘Well, this death is worse than that death’ thing?”

So aside from thinking I won’t be posting there much in future, I am thinking something is seriously, seriously messed up here. In the end, your post makes me wonder which came first, the appalling skewed priorities of the American public, or the ludicrous trivialization of the media, especially the news channels. Or are we all merrily going to hell in the same handbasket?

Man died today.

He wouldn’t even rate a generic headline. That always made me laugh.