Remember when the New York Times put Britney Spears on page one? That would've never happened under Bill Keller, but, alas, we didn't have a Jayson Blair scandal to put those wheels in motion. Ever since, the Times has squatted on the fence between "covering celebrities" and "covering coverage of celebrities." You see, it's only high-brow if you take the meta approach to Britney and her ilk. The Grey Lady, after all, refuses to stand next to People.
All of which explains how Caryn James ends up on Page 7 of the Arts section today with "After All That Goodness, a Sudden Fall From Grace," a mediocre attempt at camouflaging the Times' eagerness to capitalize on the brewing uptick in all things celebrity while holding its head high in the same pages that run Frank Rich's columns.
Instead of the Us Weekly approach, we get this from James:
The Internet had been flooded with reports, picked up from European interviews, that she had called her biological daughter “a blob” with less personality than her two adopted kids, and had criticized Madonna’s adoption of a baby boy from Malawi. Women’s Wear Daily reported she was being difficult about designs from St. John, the staid company whose ads she appears in and whose conservatively elegant gown she wore to the Globes.
By the time she reached the end of a haughty, humorless walk down that red carpet on Brad Pitt’s arm, the Good Angelina image had crumbled to dust. In the next days columnists from The Washington Post to LA Weekly attacked her for a television interview with Ryan Seacrest on E! that made it clear she was above such drivel. His red carpet questions were drivel, but that was no reason to sneer the words “Cereal, we made cereal” when asked how the family had spent the morning.
Video of the interview was spread and ridiculed on Web sites like TMZ and YouTube; Mr. Seacrest complained about her on his radio show; the current issue of Us Weekly reported on more behavior fit for a queen in an article headlined “An Angelina Backlash?” There was really no need for the question mark.
And there you have it: The way to get in on the march toward celebrity madness is by fingering others who are marching toward said madness.
We should know.
We do it everyday.
In fact, we're doing it right now.
Editorial Director
The NYT should stick to its mission as Israel's apologist.
I thought Camryn James was a movie critic, I didn't know she is now a red carpet critic as well. New york Times now sources their reporting from US weekly, say it ain't so. May be now they can stop any pretense of being a serious newspaper. A week after the GG, they are still talking about Jolie, who cares about the winners.
If I were Angelina, from now onwards, no red carpet talk with E!, or interviews with NYT - it is official - they are now tabloids of the likes of US Weekly.
Angelina - you go Girl.
Just remember, you're down to 2 less media to speak to…
Caryn James ought to be ashamed of herself. She's supposedly an educated woman right? She lowered herself and her craft to the gutter of tabloid news. Way to discredit yourself there Ms. James.
What an appalling, mean-spirited, baseless, petty, pointless, cruel, deliberately destructive attack disguised as a "column". Written by an abject nobody about a terrific, talented, powerful, meaningful human being. What gave her the right to try to smear Ms. Jolie the way she did? I am disgusted with the New York Times for running this waste of space trash. Don't worry, Angelina. She cannot hurt you, as hard as she tried.
did Maniston pay you to write this????