Tag Archives: celebrity

You Know What Sh!ts Me?: Not Everything is “Glamorising”

Posted in Opinion, What Sh!ts Me by

This will all make sense by the end of this article.

It seems that nowadays one can’t do anything in the spotlight without someone having something negative to say about it. Kim Kardashian, for example – as much as I personally dislike her – cannot blink without someone attacking her on social media, calling her a range of insults from “fat” to “blimp-like hussy”. The unfortunate truth for a celebrity is that while they are relevant, they will always be attacked no matter what.

More recently, however, it seems that there are more and more complaints coming from individuals that seem to have absolutely no social or work life at all. These are the ones that criticise any movie, TV show, book or any other creative work for “glamorising” a bad issue.

Glamorising DVD covers since 2003. (SOURCE: Anna's Flickr photostream)

Glamorising DVD covers since 2003. (SOURCE: Anna’s Flickr photostream)

One of my recent favourite TV shows (that was criminally cut short) is Secret Diary of a Call Girl, featuring Billie Piper *COUGH* Rose Tyler *COUGH* as the main character, Hannah Baxter/Belle du Jour as an escort. It features her daily and nightly shenanigans as Hannah by day and Belle by night. Regardless, it is one hell of an entertaining show and one which I successfully referred to a friend who also loved the series.

What did the critics have to say about this? “Glamorising being a prostitute”.

Um. No.

Actually it is just showing the life of an escort in a witty and entertaining way… based on the real life of a real escort who kept her identity hidden from the world for so long probably for this very reason. A feminist who wrote for the Daily Mail stated that she couldn’t imagine that any escort would enter the profession out of free choice. Well, actually, I can; people were born and raised differently and are therefore very different from one another. While one enjoys having sex and getting paid for it, the other is equally content saving herself until marriage. And there is nothing wrong with either of them. Hello, if you wanted an example of “people being very different from one another”, just watch the show and you will see that some people even enjoy roleplaying as babies while someone else takes care of them as their parent/guardian.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl isn’t the only show to face this pointless, unnecessary fire from bored critics.

Breaking Bad? Glamorising meth.

Dexter? Glamorising serial killing.

Prisonbreak? Glamorising committing a crime and then breaking out of jail.

Fifty Shades of Grey? Glamorising rough S&M.

Stan by Eminem? Glamorising being a psycho-stalker fan and committing suicide.

A friend of mine, who was a big follower of the Breaking Bad TV series, clearly stated that if you properly watched the show, it would turn you off from doing meth. Oh really? And if not made apparent by the highly anti-climatic ending of Dexter, the show did not glamorise serial killing one bit. Just look at how royally fucked his life was because of his choice in alternative hobby.

To those people who think that every creative work has some ulterior motive to ruin today’s generation: buy some Kleenex or build a bridge.

Hell, you might as well say that Doctor Who is glamorising picking up your whole life and leaving with a mad man and his blue box, or that Pokemon is glamorising leaving your family at a young age to explore the world with creatures that speak their name.

This whole pointless glamorising has gotten on my last nerve.

My advice? Watch that TV series and enjoy it. Sit through that movie and enjoy it. Read that book and enjoy it. Listen to that album and enjoy it. But leave it at that. The artists in the world who put their blood, sweat and tears in these works are wasting their time if people are just going to complain and create problems that aren’t even there.

There. I said it.

– by The Black Widow

To Bieb or not to Bieb, that is the question

Posted in Entertainment, Music, Opinion by

We’ve all heard about it over the last few days and rolled our eyes.

Justin Bieber has once again proved to the world why he currently holds the title for World’s Biggest Douchebag – and that’s coming from a self professed Belieber.

Despite the big love I hold for the little cutie, I have to say that he’s not doing much to uphold his reputation at the moment (unless of course you know him for the bad he’s done and not his talent, in which case he’s upholding that reputation to perfection), what with his ‘retiring’ from music so he can drink, drive, drink AND drive, and get high as a kite on Mother Nature’s prohibited greenery. The last thing this kid needed was another headline.

Even with all his sick tatts, is he even that cool? (SOURCE: Justin Bieber's Shots page)

Even with all his sick tatts, is he even that cool? (SOURCE: Justin Bieber’s Shots page)

From the very first time I heard Bieber sing I have vouched for his talent, but I will not tolerate his light hearted attitude towards the law, and neither will the world. As if it wasn’t enough that he spent his time in Australia tagging hotels and went home to add driving under the influence to his résumé, Bieber has now found himself in the spotlight for a racial slur – by which I mean a ridiculous joke told by a child to a girl to impress her.

Whilst I do not condone his behaviour of late, or his appreciation of racial based jokes, I have to admit that the whole situation has been blown a little out of proportion. To top it off, further footage was then leaked showing Bieber warming up his vocals to a song he sings, bleeping out the lyrics and replacing them with derogatory references to a particular community. Granted that Bieber was just a sweet little girl in these two videos, you would think he would know better, but I pose the question; should he really have known better? Do grown adults today not still promote the very behaviour that Bieber has exhibited in these two videos?

There is no doubt that he could have better taste in jokes, but quite frankly the situation is ridiculous. Do we not have more pressing issues to bring to the worlds attention? Surely the world hasn’t become so pathetic that we find the need to fill our news hour with the plights of fallen Hollywood stars whose stints on the red carpet are now nothing but a distant memory.

Look around Bieber, do your research. If he was as racist a person as these videos make him out to be, do you not think the likes of Usher and Kenny Hamilton (Bieber’s head of security) would have brought him back down to earth? Reality check people, there’s more to life than what you see on your television.

What you ask is the moral to this story? Haters gonna hate.

– by Melissa Tonitto

Easily Influenced But Not Easily Persuaded

Posted in Opinion by

I’m sure this title is going to confuse most.

Remember back in the day when all of the 90s kids were in their teens and all the fads came along (if you need a reminder of these fads, allow me to redirect you to this). The people that know me the best know that I am particularly unfazed by anything that becomes “cool” in popular culture. When guys grew their fringes out and bought womens skinny jeans from Supre, I had a fro and wore pink t-shirts. When people decided to “drop it” to dubstep music, I took my clothes off to country.

In summary, I have never really been phased by phases.

In saying that, I am putty in certain people’s hands; by certain people, I mean admired celebrities. People think I have adapted my own sense of style and sass but what it really comes down to is how my highly-adored celebrities dressed and behaved. One of my most trademark things to wear is fur, most notably, fluffy leg warmers that you’d usually see at a rave. It wasn’t as if one day I woke up and decided it’d be cool to look like a walking polar bear. Instead, this trend that has turned my wardrobe into a PETA enthusiasts nightmare if the fur was real, was inspired by a seven minute wrestling match at Survivor Series 2005 between Trish Stratus and Melina, the latter of which came out looking fierce and foxy in white fluffy leg warmers.

After seeing this, as if you wouldn't want to wear white fluffy leg warmers.

After seeing this, as if you wouldn’t want to wear white fluffy leg warmers. (SOURCE: WWE.com)

One time late last year I thought it’d be a jolly idea to dye my hair red, as in bright OMG MY EYES red. Everybody knows that someone with my skin complexion has a 2% chance of pulling off bright red hair. Why did I chance such a daring move then? Because Eva Marie has red hair, of course. If that woman jumped off a cliff wearing a burlap sack, I would join her and ask if she wanted a glass of water at the same time. One lovely hair dyeing session later with my fabulous hairdresser friend Kallie, and my hair was officially bright red. Some people liked it, some didn’t, and I was on the fence about it. But it didn’t matter, because I was one step closer to Eva Marie.

#allredeverything (SOURCE: Eva Marie Instagram)

#allredeverything (SOURCE: Eva Marie Instagram)

Let’s not even talk about my fascination with split-leg jeans or hot pants matched with Chuck Taylors and ripped punky shirts, because AJ Lee is clearly my inspiration for that.

I imagine I wouldn't look this skinny if I wore this outfit. (SOURCE: WWE.com)

I imagine I wouldn’t look this skinny if I wore this outfit. (SOURCE: WWE.com)

I think this paints one clear picture about the type of person I am – I secretly want to be a WWE Diva. While I am very happy and content with being a man, I wouldn’t say no to being AJ Lee for a day. Oh, and if you’re a fabulous celebrity that specialises in wrestling, country music, Doctor Who or pole dancing, I am pretty much yours.

– by The Black Widow

Solstice Unsatisfied: Fame or Foolery?

Posted in Opinion by

Now introducing a new portion of Solstice Satisfaction, curiously titled “Solstice Unsatisfied”. I hope the title has your minds in question, because it’s simple: in Solstice Unsatisfied, I (and sometimes others) will be commenting on and expressing our opinions on topics that I feel strongly about, or topics I am “unsatisfied” with. See what I did there? Now, as these will be opinion pieces, it is germane to note that these opinions expressed solely belong to those who express them and not to anyone else. As always, if you have an opposing opinion and would like to comment, feel free to use the comment section or alternatively use the Feedback page.

Today’s topic is one that I feel either people strongly support or strongly disagree with: the use of YouTube and/or other forms of social media to gain worldwide fame by humiliating yourself. A common example of this would be one posting a video of themselves on YouTube singing despite the fact that they have absolutely no singing ability whatsoever.

YouTube hosts a lot of humiliating videos that have shot the entertainer to worldwide fame, but at what cost?

YouTube hosts a lot of humiliating videos that have shot the entertainer to worldwide fame, but at what cost?

As a decent human being – at least I’d like to think I am – I completely support being yourself and expression and all of that. In saying that, there are some things you were just born not to do. I love to sing and loudly sing whilst in the shower and even when I’m just casually walking around the house; I sometimes even sing my greetings to people. In saying that, I am tone deaf and have the worst pitch and could not decently sing a song to save my life so I keep the singing to myself and to my family and close friends. I know my limits when it comes to my singing ability or lack thereof.

So why do I see people putting videos of themselves up on YouTube singing when they are completely flat, are just as tone deaf as I am and sometimes even scream out in anger when they can’t hit a certain note? (I hope everyone understood that reference) These people tend to use replies “F*** the haters” and “Haters are my motivators” as an excuse to defend what they may or may not believe is actual talent and because everyone and their dog chime up and watch these videos and leave comments on them, their video views skyrocket and their “fame” goes through the roof – but all for the wrong reasons. These people don’t hate you, they think you’re a terrible singer and don’t want to subject themselves to such aural torture.

It literally infuriates me that these people make themselves targets for the cruel Internet trolls out there by uploading such idiocy and do absolutely nothing about it because they truly believe that they are talented when it is clear that they aren’t Celine or Mariah. What they are doing is basically asking to be trolled and then when they are, they complain about being bullied. Yes, some of the things that trolls these days say are completely out of line and should be monitored by YouTube, but to stop them in the first place, these people should keep their un-talent off a public viewing forum like YouTube.

A good example of this is Rebecca Black and her song “Friday”. The song gained an enormous amount of attention: the music video on YouTube garnered a large of views and the term “Rebecca Black” was trending worldwide on Twitter for well over a week. Her song Friday shot her to fame, yes? That may be the case, but it made her look like a downright fool with lyrical curiosities like “Party and party and yeah! Fun, fun, fun, fun.” Black faced a colossal amount of backlash from trolls and critics alike who blasted her for her attempt at music making. While I do not support trolls comments even in the slightest, I can’t help but think that Black may have subjected herself to such harsh criticism by publicly posting the video despite its terrible lyrics and off-pitch singing. If you can’t sing and you have the absolute worst lyrics known to mankind, then you should probably keep video evidence of these things off of YouTube.

Another instance with which I will absolutely not hold back on is Giovanna Plowman, AKA “The Girl who Ate her Own Tampon”. Words cannot express how much I detest this girl, and professional jealousy has absolutely nothing to do with it. I would much rather be a nobody and sail on through life as a nobody than be famous for doing something as stupid as eating your own tampon. This foolish act has shot Plowman to fame where she has made outlandish comments saying that people are jealous of how famous she is and that she has her own agent and other barbaric crap. Miss Plowman, are you REALLY that proud of yourself? You’re only famous because people are laughing at how filthy you are and will raise their children to be everything that you aren’t. No one will know her as Giovanna Plowman – I literally had to Google “what was the name of the girl who ate her own tampon” just to get her name – they will know her as just that. The feral girl who ate her own tampon. Life as a nobody sure seems tempting.

I will admit a small tinge of jealousy to those who have put awful singing videos of themselves up on YouTube which made them famous and in turn has made them a celebrity of sorts, like Rebecca Black who has been seen hanging out with celebrities and featured on other celebrity medias like Katy Perry’s “T.G.I.F” music video. But other than that, I do not support the initial act in the slightest. I think it’s an absolutely pathetic way to get attention for a person who is so starved for said attention that they are willing to humiliate themselves on a worldwide media outlet.

My suggestion? If you want public attention and want fame, put yourself out there exhibiting a talent that you actually have. I believe I have a talent in writing and alas, here I am writing on SolSat. Don’t make yourself the butt of everyone else’s joke just for the sake of a million video views or a few thousand likes on Facebook. Your dignity and your pride is much more important than that. Don’t sell your soul to the devil that is fame.

Comments are welcome.

– by The Black Widow