I was watching an old episode of “Desperate Housewives” last night and was reminded of the timeless topic of beauty. Every now and then I am so impressed with the occasional biting and very funny line thrown in the dialog in that show. In a particular scene, Gabrielle is visiting her husband, Carlos, in prison. As usual, they were having a power struggle and conducting a negotiation. After several contentious back-and-forth rounds, Gabrielle says, “Why are all rich men such jerks?” and he retorts, “for the same reason all beautiful women are such bitches.” Yesterday I was also listening to a new Putamayo CD called, “Paris” and there is a song on this CD by Carla Bruni, an Italian “super” model. I recognized her name (see my column on vices and celeb gossip) and looked her up on the web. She has been credited for being the woman that came between Donald Trump and Marla Maples, and Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall. She is a beautiful woman who is obviously drawn to very wealthy and powerful men. I guess I understand why wealthy men might be attractive to high-maintenance women, but I am truly always baffled a bit too. I find Donald Trump and Mick Jagger both, for lack of a better term, icky. Carla Bruni, as a highly-paid model, has her pick of rich guys. Why would she, and so many other women like her, only be drawn to the wealthiest and most powerful ones who are actually kind of gross and clearly not available?
Beauty is a huge industry. Many women would pay anything for big breasts, perfect legs, puffy lips and whatever else would make them look perfect. It seems that it’s something so many women strive for, and will kill themselves for whether through elective surgery or anorexia. But when you really think about it, what difference does it make? In my little world, I know mostly normal-looking people. I have some beautiful friends, but their lives are about other things, not about being beautiful. These people have happy, healthy relationships and great marriages. They set and accomplish goals. They have the important things in life. I read about some of the most beautiful people in the world, about their failed marriages and never-ending quests for happiness. I would never want to be know as the “beautiful woman that broke up other people’s marriages.” Why would that sort of accomplishment, knowing you could have anyone you wanted, be an accomplishment at all? The quest for the holy grail of beauty just seems a fruitless waste of time, with unintended negative consequences.
Ironically, I have also read that for many cases of infidelity in marriage, the “other woman” is almost never a total babe. She is almost always a very average-looking woman. I have no idea how researchers compiled that information, but it’s interesting. A woman’s worst nightmare rarely happens. The average-looking woman fears that her husband will leave her for the Victoria’s Secret model that actually paid attention to him, but he really leaves her for the average-looking woman from the grocery store.
I have often thought that it must be weird to be in the realm of beautiful people, because they all find each other. Imagine, after all the plastic surgery there you are, looking like a wax figurine of Jessica Simpson, sitting somewhere in LA. And everyone around you looks JUST THE SAME. So, although you’re almost perfect, so is everyone around you and in that environment you’re really just average again. That must hurt. Also, is it just me, or is beauty a nebulous, moving target? I have often been surprised to learn that the kind-of-cute chubby girl is the one that all the guys are after or that the girl I thought looked like a model many guys just find “kind of weird looking.”
I completely understand why people want to look good and I also pay way too much for hair cuts and make sure I get my workouts in. But I do try to keep in mind that it’s a goal that is never acheived. And if it is, and you land in the world of beautiful people, what then? The last thing I would want to do is hang around with people for whom beauty was the most important quality someone could have. Carla Bruni and Gabrielle Solis can keep Donald Trump, Mick Jagger and Carlos Solis, and keep the regular guys for the rest of us.
December 22, 2006 at 3:12 am |
This topic brought to mind a recent People magazine cover that featured a glamorous photo of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Unfortunately the pose is almost identical to one that appeared in that same magazine not so many years ago, it was the wedding shot of Brad and Jennifer Aniston. The comparison seemed to say, “that was me then, this is me know” (although I’m sure it was no conscious choice, just a strange coincidence). I had been thinking about how romantic and happy and well-balanced their (Brangelina’s) life seemed to be – traveling to beautiful places, doing good work, being very involved parents, etc., when suddenly I remembered that Brad was married when he met, and possibly impregnated Angelina Jolie. I can only imagine that it would have been easier for Jennifer Aniston to become a widow than to experience this kind of treachery and public humiliation.
And it is sad that this kind of destructive action is seen as more forgiveable because of someone’s looks and/or fame. If you knew someone who did what Angelina Jolie or Julia Roberts have done recently, wouldn’t you lose respect for that person? Yet what I hear is, “well, she’s so beautiful” or “they look so happy together…”
One last note: Before Marla, there was Ivana, and before Jerry, there was Bianca. Talk about instant karma!