Getting Real
Another refreshing unpretentious-celebrity article, this one about the actress Keri Russell. Call me a sucker, but I can't help thinking she might actually not be just a PR-manufactured mannequin of a down-to-earth mother but the real thing. (She's even married to a carpenter; reminds me of one of my very favorite anti-celebrity celebrities, Mary Chapin Carpenter, who's married to a contractor and lives on a farm in Virginia.)
I'll probably piss someone off for saying this, but my default assumption about Hollywood celebrities is that they don't really raise their kids but rather farm out the job to full-time nannies. It's a cynical thing to say, but I confess I do believe that until I see convincing evidence to the contrary. And I rarely see convincing evidence to contrary. (No, the "Stars, They're Just Like Us" photos in Us magazine don't do it for me. I always imagine the nanny is just outside the frame.)
I've been taken for a ride before -- remember when I wrote about Jane Seymour's view of plastic surgery? Well, come to find out this (been meaning to write about that for a couple of months now).
I don't spend that much time thinking about celebrities. Honest.
I'll probably piss someone off for saying this, but my default assumption about Hollywood celebrities is that they don't really raise their kids but rather farm out the job to full-time nannies. It's a cynical thing to say, but I confess I do believe that until I see convincing evidence to the contrary. And I rarely see convincing evidence to contrary. (No, the "Stars, They're Just Like Us" photos in Us magazine don't do it for me. I always imagine the nanny is just outside the frame.)
I've been taken for a ride before -- remember when I wrote about Jane Seymour's view of plastic surgery? Well, come to find out this (been meaning to write about that for a couple of months now).
I don't spend that much time thinking about celebrities. Honest.
posted by Billy at 12:12 AM
9 Comments:
I adore Mary Chapin Carpenter! Her voice and music is gorgeous! I listen to her all the time. Have you heard The Dreaming Road?
If it's a Mary Chapin Carpenter song, then I know it (though I don't always remember the titles). Yes, I know that one (now that I've checked to remind myself which CD it's on). I haven't listened to that album in a few years because of how closely I associate it with my previous relationship (we would see her every summer in concert, and we played that album constantly on road trips). But thanks for the reminder. I think it's worth listening to again. I listen to her other albums all the time. My personal favorite is "Stones in the Road" (the CD, though I love the song too).
Of course they raise their own children! Think Joan Crawford.
I did think of her, actually. Maybe that speaks to the benefits of full-time nannies.
I was fascinated as a kid with a memoir by Jill Schary about growing up in Hollywood as the daughter of the head of MGM. I don't think it is the outsourcing to a nanny issue as much as the fact that celebrity parents are often narcissistic and insecure (if only that problem was limited to people we just read about). Shirley Maclaine's performance in "Postcards from the Edge," written by Carrie Fisher, the daughter of two celebrities and step-daughter of one of the biggest stars of all time, is a good bad example. The daughter was played by Meryl Streep, someone I have always thought of as entirely sensible and authentic and probably a great mom. (Glad you're back posting again.)
Well you know I love Meryl Streep, and I agree with you about her probably mothering skills. And I love "Postcards from the Edge," which I've seen several times. I find it very moving, actually, at the end.
Oh, I agree. The movie is uneven, but it has some wonderful moments. Two I especially love are when Gene Hackman and Meryl Streep are looping dialogue and especially when Meryl Streep puts the make-up on Shirley Maclaine's face, one of my favorite scenes ever ("Sid speaks!" "Still waters." And the bits with Robin Bartlett as the friend and Richard Dreyfuss as the ER doc and Annette Benning as the extra.
i, too, like mcc. and i agree with the farming out of parental responsibilities to nannies by hollywood types.
for some reason i seem to remember you do country dancing. if my memory hasn't completely abandoned me, check out this. i think you might enjoy it.
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