The Sheila Variations

Why must Britney shave?

Now now, I said it was a message to "Britney's hubby". I'm sure Britney is very well shaved already.

I don't think celebrities lied so much in the past as much as the old studio system, where actors were "owned" by individual studios under contract the same way recording artists still are and had a much bigger machine protecting their image.

As for Britney, there's just no accounting for taste. She could have any one of a gazillion guys with class and she picks this guy?

As an urban northeastern Jew, I'm probably not "inside" enough to say this with impunity, but Britney Spears is, and always has been, white trash. That's a mindset more than any kind of ethnic or economic designation: though Kenner is a downmarket suburb of New Orleans (to put it VERY mildly), there are people there as anywhere who have class and others who don't. She's married a guy with no class because SHE has no class, and very little self-respect either (self-importance not being the same thing).

So perhaps this is just a case of reverting to type then!

Why did the first 2 comments in this thread give me the vapors?

All this however only reminds me of one thing;

"Don't you know the meaning of propriety?"

"Propriety? Noun. Conformity to established standards of behavior or manners, suitability, rightness or justice. See Etiquette."

Hi Dave,

How would you define "white trash"? I live in Austin, Texas, where highly educated Southern-born white elites will sometimes refer to themselves in joking self-deprecation as "white trash," and I've often wondered what people from elsewhere mean by the term, since it's a harmless joke here.

Like Justice Stewart on obscenity, I can't define it but I know it when I see it, and Britney's definitely a prime example. I don't think New Orleanians (white, black or whatever) would be likely to use the term "white trash" as a joke: it's definitely derogatory there. OTOH, it's probably also how New Orleans would sweepingly characterize the rest of Lousiana.

Hi Dave,

Interesting. I can definitely believe what you say about Louisiana. Louisiana, despite its geographical proximity to Texas, has a radically different culture from Texas, and Austin is an anomaly (to say the least) within Texas.

Actually, I'm not even sure we have white trash as a category in Austin. Austin is a mixture of leftist hippie culture held over from the sixties, the influence of the high-tech industry (particularly software), and the influence of a major university. So basically we have stoners and computer geeks here. (I fall into the latter category. :) )

Red, you have no idea how that warms my heart.

C'est la vie, C'est la guerre, C'est la dreck.

"I have no idea. She was behind a rock in the drugstore."

Literally every post has its correlation in What's Up Doc.

I should do an entire day of posts, where I test this theory.

This theory of vocal reverberation under spinal pressure.

"I think I read a monograph on that."

I was just thinking the exact same thing yesterday, Ms. Red. It's the Tau of Whats Up Doc, or, All I Ever Really Needed To Know I Learned from Peter Bogdonavich's Homage To Bringing Up Baby.

I love being able to zip off the appropriate quote at any time, for any subject, and having somebody fully understand the and share my obsession with the zany antics of Babs, O'Neill and Co.

I think we will definitely have to test your theory.

It just so happens that Sheila has had conversations with Leonard Bernstein about conducting a full days blog, in E flat.

sheila:
you are hilarious!
susanna

Bryan, I think Austin's relationship to the rest of Texas does bear some similarity to that between New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana. Like NYC and New York, or Miami and Florida, it's more than just the city-country dichotomy, because there are other cities in each state that are "of" it rather than only "in" it. In each case, they're two completely different universes.

I'd say there's no reason to go to the extreme of finding a "What's Up Doc?" quotation for every single post. After all, a foolist consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

2 points for Bryan! Awesome!

I adore anyone who adores anyone who adores Emerson.

"Your turn!"

"Bannister, she's a delight. She's a deLIGHT. And you're a lucky dog."

"Mr. Larabie, I---"

"Admit it! Admit it! You're a lucky dog!"

By the way, Sheila - just got back from the local newstand, and you'd better cover your eyes before you see this week's issue of "US" Magazine.

Jeff -

I literally cannot wait to see it now.

that kevin federline is a little pimple of a human being

The notion of "white trash" does not refer to wealth or social prominence, but rather how well someone was raised, which usually is a function of how well established their family is. It is possible to be neither prominent nor wealthy but still have class, just as, in Britney's case, it is possible to be very wealthy and prominent and have no class whatsoever.

Reese Witherspoon makes a good contrast, to illustrate what not being white trash looks like.

All good advice to celebrities begins with "for f-ck's sake, comb your hair."

I have a real problem with Mira Sorvino's SO, too.

I like how Ronald Colman and William Powell, even when playing real scruffs, were still sooooo handsome. (that being the point in a movie, I guess, like Janeane Garofalo being cute playing the non-cute one in 'The Truth about Cats & Dogs'