Jennifer Aniston is a female icon, or at least that's what the parade of images on the celebrity magazines tell us. Despite having no interest in a public figure like Ms. Aniston, I know a great deal about her, because each week a headline on her every move and enunciation stares at me while I wait in line to buy important little things like toilet paper.
In a world where celebrity is a life goal, Jennifer Aniston is a career achiever. Magazines pay money for snapshots of Aniston and that investment pays off. Recently, sales for magazines have plummeted, but tabloid publications for celebrity gossip are herded like so many cash cows.
With little more than a popular haircut, Jennifer Aniston has become a fixture in the pop culture pantheon, a fact that says little about who Ms. Aniston is and more of what Jennifer represents.
As a male casual observer of the feminist merry-go-round of the past few decades Aniston confuses me.
It's hard to put a finger on what feminism means today, but what and who the female driven media celebrates says a lot about the movement. Feminist gushed over Madonna who was worshipped for her independence and detachment to both men and societal norms, but at the age of 50, recently divorced and still strip-teasing in front of audiences, it's hard to hold Ms Ciccone up as an example of anything more than a P.T Barnum in a pointy bra.
A good friend of mine insists Jennifer Aniston has little or no talent—he works in the financial sector, which means he has a working knowledge of these things. Any male can see Ms. Aniston is an attractive woman, but that only partially explains why women are so enthralled with the former "Rachel".
Jennifer Aniston comfortably stands in the long line of "girl-next-door" actresses that Hollywood has marketed since the times of Prohibition.
For many women, Ms. Aniston is reachable, attainable with an acting 'ability' that seems so natural, it is without distinction. Jennifer Aniston could be any girl, which defines her appeal--a type of democratic diva elected by the fawning female masses.
After working as a telemarketer and bicycle messenger in New York before moving to Los Angeles and making it enormous, Aniston achieved the new American dream--celebrity.
And what is celebrity like? Aniston was married to People Magazine's "Most beautiful man in the world." Forbes declared Jennifer Aniston to be one of the highest paid celebrities earning an estimated $27 million, and a recent article for Vogue quoted Aniston on the construction of her 10,000 square feet new home "for such a small person who will soon live here all alone".
For the mostly women who buy the publications, Jennifer Aniston is a form of escapism, a modern day fairytale, but whereas escapism has always been a fantasy for self-improvement—even Cinderella dreamt of a better life—Ms Aniston is the depository of almost every human vice: envy, luxury, and vanity.
After a very public divorce, several high profile relationships and an on-going feud with Angelina Jolie—All this I've gathered from the covers of magazines—Jennifer is not an object of self-edification, but a figure of pity, curiosity, vulnerability and with the consistent rumors of pregnancy, a budding role-model for modern maternity on her "own terms"—of course.
And it's not just American women who are googling Jennifer Aniston's name to catch up on the latest gossip. The Edmunton Sun headlined Anniston's recent Vogue interview in their "In Case you Were on Mars the Past Week…"
Previously, to become a figure dignified of some admiration or even curiosity, one had to accomplish something, but today, fame is an achievement unto itself.
It is true, the desperate media money machine has largely hyped Jennifer Aniston to promote movies, television shows and, of course, magazine sales. Aniston's highly publicized guest appearance on the equally hyped 30 Rock brought an all time low of 7.5 million viewers , three times less than the 23 million average for an episode of Friends.
After several years of silence on her husband's abandonment for another woman, Aniston recently qualified the home wrecking behavior as "not cool", but took care to announce that she has two films coming out. Aniston's comments were promptly picked up, broadcast throughout the world and regurgitated on the Internet. This type of artificial hype is what has fed the Aniston's brand for years now as Jennifer is the sacrifice of all things natural to the cult of the fake and synthetic.
What does this say about today's woman? That's one headline question the tabloids just won't ask.
Links
[url=http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b68890_30_rock_gets_no_lift_from_jennifer.html]http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b68890_30_rock_gets_no_lift_from_jennifer.html[/url]
[url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/showbiz/2008-11/17/content_7211225.htm]http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/showbiz/2008-11/17/content_7211225.htm[/url]
Matt Sanchez is an American war correspondent who has embedded with the American, Iraqi and Afghan military. He resides in New York City and is a frequent political commentator in both American and French media. Matt currently reports from the United Nations. He scandalously lived in Quebec, where he learned a little French and a bit about the independent film industry. His work has appeared in the New York Post, National Review and Human Events. Visit Sanchez’s website.
