h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It is a great piece you guys got going there.

I am totally fascinated by all those old divas....Garbo being one of my favorite. I think I like them because they had a realness about them that isn't found in stars today. They had real bodies. Not these bodies that are only attainable through self mutalation or starvation.

well, anyway...so far real good!

Thanks so much for the feedback!

However, I have to shoot myself in the foot and disagree with you. I'm not sure I'd call the MGM and other silver screen stars "more real." They were notoriously manufactured. Their makeup generally took hours for public appearances, and they were forbidden to go in public without any. All their clothes from movie appearances to awards ceremonies to everyday wear were chosen by fashion designers and their lackeys.

They also attended a sort of charm school for stars. This included instructions on walking, sitting, and standing properly, proper etiquette and table manners, voice coaching, acting lessons, dancing lessons, singing lessons, and so forth.

Most of them were expected to change their names. And with the name change came a fake biography, fake liasons with the opposite sex, and so forth. Those who were successful were so stereotyped that they hated to go out in public because nobody could tell the difference between their "celebrity" selves and their "real" selves.

I'll admit Garbo suffered from this less than most. This is probably because she became famous during silent films -- when MGM hadn't yet perfected its grooming process for female stars. In some ways, we are lucky she was born so early. But I would note that even Garbo became a recluse in her later life.

I'd be hard-pressed to guess which women had it worse: silver screen actresses or more modern ones. Both sets are underpaid when compared to men, and are expected to fulfill much higher expectations. I do agree that the current trend towards unhealthy thinness is a problem, though. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I guess I had no idea as to the extent of the *manufacturedness* as it were. I see alot now adays, especially on the music front. Just take a look at *Making the band* on ABC-D...Thank you for informing me.

I guess they did a great job at the manufacturing of them to make them seem both super glamorous and down to earth as well cause it sure fooled me.

It was a lovely illusion indeed.

FYI, my work on the entry is done. Thanks again for the feedback.

Hey Frag!

I love this entry and I can't believe it languished on the Peer Review page for so long!! Hopefully, I'll be able to do something about that....

I was considering whether to post a, "Hey, What's Up?" reply to my own thread in the Peer Review forum. But I never got around to it, as it were. You realize you're rapidly becoming my favorite sub-editor.

The feeling is mutual.
It's kind of cheating to 'Scout' an entry of somebody you already know is going to do a good job before even opening the page. But hey, that's what they pay me for, right?

*blush*

Thanks.