Parsing Paris: An Exercise in Obvious Humor
In a surprise move that brought an end to the media blackout surrounding the story, my internet headlines today made passing reference to the current situation in which Ms. Paris Hilton finds herself. I'll offer some commentary on the article
"I'm not the same person I was," Hilton told [Barbara] Walters. "I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute. It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me.
The basis of her act was clearly prop comedy, because anyone who films themselves taking phone calls mid-coitus is clearly only doing so to make a nation laugh again after the hardships of 9/11. I also commend her bold (and frequent) use of the "n-word" in her performances. Like the great comics Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor before her, Paris understands that the only way to defuse the power of a word is to take ownership of it from those who seek to use it for harm, and that the best way to make people confront ignorance is by illuminating it through preposterous examples. Well-played, P.
""I feel that the purpose of my life is to be where I am," Hilton told Walters. "My spirit or soul did not like the way I was being seen and that is why I was sent to jail. God has released me."
The Lord clearly works in mysterious ways. While certain people may look at driving under the influence of alcohol to be an act of selfish recklessness and disobeying a court order to be one of willful insolence, the wise see it for what it truly is: His divine grace in action.
"I was not eating or sleeping. I was severely depressed and felt as if I was in a cage. I was not myself. It was a horrible experience," Hilton said.
Paris uses a startling example of simile in the above quote. She's saying that she was initially reassigned to house arrest because of feelings of sadness and hopelessness arising because prison felt like, in her words, "a cage". Hopefully her message will get through to younger people who may not have considered that being sentenced to prison might actually lead to feelings of confinement - like one's freedom of movement has been taken away from them. Once again we bask in Ms. Hilton's powerful use of language and learn from her experience.
When she is released, Hilton said, she might like to help in the fields of breast cancer or multiple sclerosis, diseases that her grandmothers suffered, or build a "Paris Hilton playhouse" for sick children.
Paris is obviously making use of the prison medical facility's extensive library, and is rumored to have asked someone on staff what the phrase "genetic predisposition" meant shortly before the Barbara Walters phone interview. Also, speaking as a parent, it's incredibly comforting to know that those whose children are stricken with a terrible illness can one day find solace in something called The Paris Hilton Playhouse. (It's like a one-woman "Make-a-Wish" Foundation!)
Hilton, who said other inmates had been friendly, added that her skin was very dry because she was not allowed any moisturizer.
"It doesn't matter," she said, "I'm not that superficial girl. I haven't looked in the mirror since I got here."
And the growing has already begun...
"I'm not the same person I was," Hilton told [Barbara] Walters. "I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute. It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me.
The basis of her act was clearly prop comedy, because anyone who films themselves taking phone calls mid-coitus is clearly only doing so to make a nation laugh again after the hardships of 9/11. I also commend her bold (and frequent) use of the "n-word" in her performances. Like the great comics Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor before her, Paris understands that the only way to defuse the power of a word is to take ownership of it from those who seek to use it for harm, and that the best way to make people confront ignorance is by illuminating it through preposterous examples. Well-played, P.
""I feel that the purpose of my life is to be where I am," Hilton told Walters. "My spirit or soul did not like the way I was being seen and that is why I was sent to jail. God has released me."
The Lord clearly works in mysterious ways. While certain people may look at driving under the influence of alcohol to be an act of selfish recklessness and disobeying a court order to be one of willful insolence, the wise see it for what it truly is: His divine grace in action.
"I was not eating or sleeping. I was severely depressed and felt as if I was in a cage. I was not myself. It was a horrible experience," Hilton said.
Paris uses a startling example of simile in the above quote. She's saying that she was initially reassigned to house arrest because of feelings of sadness and hopelessness arising because prison felt like, in her words, "a cage". Hopefully her message will get through to younger people who may not have considered that being sentenced to prison might actually lead to feelings of confinement - like one's freedom of movement has been taken away from them. Once again we bask in Ms. Hilton's powerful use of language and learn from her experience.
When she is released, Hilton said, she might like to help in the fields of breast cancer or multiple sclerosis, diseases that her grandmothers suffered, or build a "Paris Hilton playhouse" for sick children.
Paris is obviously making use of the prison medical facility's extensive library, and is rumored to have asked someone on staff what the phrase "genetic predisposition" meant shortly before the Barbara Walters phone interview. Also, speaking as a parent, it's incredibly comforting to know that those whose children are stricken with a terrible illness can one day find solace in something called The Paris Hilton Playhouse. (It's like a one-woman "Make-a-Wish" Foundation!)
Hilton, who said other inmates had been friendly, added that her skin was very dry because she was not allowed any moisturizer.
"It doesn't matter," she said, "I'm not that superficial girl. I haven't looked in the mirror since I got here."
And the growing has already begun...