Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton – The Manipulative Heiress

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How is it that a person with absolutely no great talent to talk of became one of the most talked about person in media history? Paris Hilton is a bad actress, doesn’t have any great talent, hosts a show which doesn’t have much too many viewers and yet she has one of the most recognizable names on the planet. The answer lies in her clever manipulation of the media with a constant barrage of shocking antics and sexual disclosures.

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Having born with a golden spoon in her mouth by virtue of being the daughter of Richard Hilton, the owner of the Hilton Hotel chain, I guess the only thing missing in Paris’s life must have been fame. She has certainly corrected that little miss like any rich brat would do. Get it by all means necessary.

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She was had started to gain a reputation as a socialite in 2001 and her fame began to extend beyond New York’s tabloids. She exploded into fame with the leak of her sex tape with an ex-boyfriend. The tape was leaked just a week prior to the premiere of her TV show ‘The simple life’. This fuelled rumors that it was a deliberate publicity stunt. However Paris has denied these allegations stating that it has caused her great embarrassment. Whatever the truth maybe there is no denying that the tape did help become a household name, albeit infamous. It caused such frenzy on the net that its still one of the most sought after downloads on the net.

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From then on Paris Hilton has been in the news for some reason or the other. Her public cat fights with fellow young celebrities Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie are well documented. She and Lindsay are the reigning scandal queens with both relying on drugs, exposure and general outrageous behavior to stay in the spotlight. They are both hounded by paparazzi where ever they go to and both are not shy to play to their audience as well. Their gimmicks include turning up in skimpy or provocative clothes at parties, drunken driving or causing a ruckus with her behavior at some event or the other.

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She has had her mobile hacked and a lot of personal details splashed all over the world. Not to mention the celebrity phone numbers leaked throughout the world. Recently she is in the news once again for the web site ParisExposed.com. It’s a website that features images of personal documents, video, and other material allegedly obtained when the contents of a storage locker rented by Hilton was auctioned off due to lack of a $208 payment. The website began charging online access to this material and received 1.2 million visitors in just over 40 hours. Among the contents were medications, diaries, photographs, contracts and love letters, as well as personal videos of her. She however obtained a temporary injunction against ParisExposed.com, closing down the website.

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Paris Hilton’s fame is a reflection of our generation who has screwed up values and is obsessed with fame. We are as much to blame for giving undue importance to such celebrities. Media is putty in the hands of people like Paris Hilton because we as readers show interest in knowing the sordid details of their personal life. This is harmful because impressionable youngsters are corrupted by this and begin to lose perspective on what is cool and what is not.

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson – A beauty with brains

Very few child artists transform into successful adult stars, let alone good actors. Scarlett Johansson is one of those few who have managed to make a mark in the movies even as an adult. She is a refreshing change from the usual Hollywood teen queens we have come to see and is actually talented for a change. Though men go gaga over her other ‘assets’, it is to be remembered that she has been widely acclaimed for her work so far.

Scarlett first came into prominence with her role in the Robert Redford movie ‘The Horse Whisperer’ at the age of 14. Even though she made her debut 4 years earlier in the movie ‘North’ it was after ‘The Horse Whisperer’ that he started being recognized. Playing the role of an amputee teenager suffering from the traumas of a horse riding accident, she was able to stand her own against such acclaimed and experienced actors like Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas and Sam Neil.

Her biggest break however came in the 2003 for her role of Charlotte in Sofia Coppola’s ‘Lost in Translation’. She plays a recent philosophy graduate of Yale University, and the wife of a Rolling Stone-type photographer on assignment in Tokyo in the movie. Both the movie and her performance received much critical acclaim culminating in a Golden Globe nomination for Scarlett. The movie itself went on to receive various Oscar nominations too. In fact that year was a watershed year in her fledgling career as she had a second Golden globe nomination that same year for the movie ‘Girl with a pearl earring’.

From that point onwards Scarlett has been steadily rising in the list of celebrities with mass appeal. Her role in the Woody Allen movie ‘Match Point’ was both a critical and commercial success, for which she received yet another Golden Globe nomination. Even though she suffered a setback in the recent past with movies like ‘The Island’ and ‘The Black Dahlia’ not doing as well as expected. However this should only be a minor hitch as talent like hers can’t be subdued for long.

What really sets Scarlett apart from her fellow young celebrities at Hollywood is her level headedness and her poise. Unlike Lindsay Lohen and Paris Hilton she does not seem to rely on sleaze to stay in the news. She comes across as an intelligent, classy and sexy lady in the classic movie star mould of the bygone eras. She has always advocated healthy diet and has criticized the media for promoting wafer thin figure and unhealthy eating habits. She has proven that having a buxom figure can still work in Hollywood. She tops any listing of the sexiest woman alive. Her dress sense also is much appreciated and very rarely would you see her in something that did not exude class. That is what Scarlett so different form other celebrities of her age – her class in whatever she does.

She is also passionate about politics a trait rarely found in Hollywood starlets, let alone in those of her age. A staunch Democrat, she has campaigned for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election showcasing her brains to go along with her beauty and talent. Indeed Scarlett Johansson is a breed apart and we will be hearing more about her in times to come.