Will the real Paris please stand up...or leave?
While the title is somewhat unflattering, it's my perception of what Paris Hilton was and perhaps still is. Admittedly, it's a little hard for me to take anything Paris Hilton says at face value--at first.
However, perceptions change. This was a revealing documentary, revealing in the sense that she suffered trauma and abuse as a young girl and then teenager, that she put on a public false front to conceal the hurt, that she surrounded herself with yes-people who catered to her every whim, and that part comes through quite well in this film.
At the same time, though, what we see in her public face is that which we remember. And what we remember more than anything else is an image of a vapid, spoiled, not-too-bright socialite who comes from old money, who doesn't have to worry about where her next dollar is coming from, who flaunts her success to everyone willing to listen to her, and who makes it appear that she doesn't care what anyone else thinks because she's rich, rich, rich!
Still, she likes animals, so that's one point in her favor.
Yet...after watching this documentary, in spite of some of the revelations of her friends, her entourage, her relatives, and her own observations, I never really caught who the real Paris Hilton was and is. She's always come across as the living embodiment of spoiled WASPy privilege, and revelations in this documentary aside, she's not done much to alter my perceptions of her. I don't wish her ill; I wish that on no one.
But I have a feeling that this youtube flick is simply another way for her to reinvent her public persona, to gain more followers to someone who should have grown up years ago, and to show another side of her personality without ever revealing who she truly is.
However, perceptions change. This was a revealing documentary, revealing in the sense that she suffered trauma and abuse as a young girl and then teenager, that she put on a public false front to conceal the hurt, that she surrounded herself with yes-people who catered to her every whim, and that part comes through quite well in this film.
At the same time, though, what we see in her public face is that which we remember. And what we remember more than anything else is an image of a vapid, spoiled, not-too-bright socialite who comes from old money, who doesn't have to worry about where her next dollar is coming from, who flaunts her success to everyone willing to listen to her, and who makes it appear that she doesn't care what anyone else thinks because she's rich, rich, rich!
Still, she likes animals, so that's one point in her favor.
Yet...after watching this documentary, in spite of some of the revelations of her friends, her entourage, her relatives, and her own observations, I never really caught who the real Paris Hilton was and is. She's always come across as the living embodiment of spoiled WASPy privilege, and revelations in this documentary aside, she's not done much to alter my perceptions of her. I don't wish her ill; I wish that on no one.
But I have a feeling that this youtube flick is simply another way for her to reinvent her public persona, to gain more followers to someone who should have grown up years ago, and to show another side of her personality without ever revealing who she truly is.
- MasterFantastic
- Sep 26, 2020