The Forkes Report - Celebrity

Dark Angel

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 02:47:00 -0700

Bettie Page died today in Los Angeles. She suffered a heart attack last week and never regained consciousness. She was 85.

Hard to say if many people know who Bettie Page is and what she means to our society. For men who grew up in the 1950’s and ‘60’s, Bettie had a huge impact, at least for some of us.

She was born dirt poor in Tennessee, April 22, 1923 and died, December 11, 2008, the most famous American sex symbol of all time. Her web site logs 20,000,000 hits per month

Obviously, there is a cult of Bettie fans of all ages, due mainly to a resurgence of her work in the early 1980’s that has carried on until today. Her photos circulate now with ease, thanks to the Internet, and books and DVD’s are best sellers. For the fans, Bettie Page was the embodiment of liberation, feminist, sexual and intellectual.

Hers is a famous story and there’s nothing new to add. She wanted to be an actress and after getting her Bachelor’s Degree in education (Bettie was the Salutatorian of her high school class), she moved to New York City to pursue that career, supporting herself as a secretary. Bettie actually appeared in several plays Off-Broadway and in some feature films, but while walking on the beach at Coney Island in 1950, a policeman and amateur photographer saw her and asked Bettie to pose; she did and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

The icon, known in the cult and fetish community as the Dark Angel, went on to appear nude and semi-nude in thousands of photographs and movies through the network of somewhat secret “camera clubs” of the 1940’s and ‘50’s that were designed to circumvent the laws against distributing photos considered “obscene.”

Even by today’s standards, some of Bettie’s photos and videos would be considered shocking; she was the first famous bondage and SM model and really brought that fetish out into the public eye, becoming the Queen of Bondage.

No longer a secretary, Bettie Page was in demand as her fame grew in the camera club underground. She had agents of sorts, a photography couple, brother and sister Irving and Paula Claw, who arranged many camera club events.

A camera club, by this mid 20th Century definition, was a group of (usually) men who paid dues to have women model in swimsuits, lingerie and nude. Someone, like the Claws, would make the arrangements to find the model and a home or other location where the club members could take photos and even movies.

The Claws were also into bondage and Bettie took the step into that genre. It was for her bondage photos that Bettie Page came under fire from the federal government, in the form of Tennessee Senator C. Estes Kefauver. In 1955 Kefauver started his hearings into pornography and the magazines and companies that produced it, spurred by a rigid, religious morality that was becoming out of step with modern culture. As the most famous pinup model and bondage model, Bettie was subpoenaed to appear, but in the end did not testify.

For all the controversy, for all her troubles in life — Bettie was sexually abused by her father, was in abusive marriages, kidnapped and gang-raped by neighbors in her hometown, diagnosed as being schizophrenic, institutionalized twice for several years total and even became a born again Christian working with the Billy Graham Ministries — Bettie never apologized for her work nor blamed any of the problems on that occupation. She was in fact proud of it until she died.

In January 1955 she was Playboy’s Playmate of the Month. That’s pretty much how I came to know of her. Bettie was the model for many of Alberto Vargas’s iconic drawings for the magazine, the “Vargas Girl,” often as sexy as the Playmates themselves.
 Hugh M. Hefner said of Bettie, “She became, in time, an American icon, her winning smile and effervescent personality apparent in every pose.”

Inquisitive, I had to know if she was a real model or just a figment of the artist’s imagination. Back then we didn’t have home computers, let alone the Internet, so trying to find out who the woman was took some effort. And luck. When a picture of Bettie surfaced, I immediately put two-and-two together — one never forgets the face and figure of Bettie Page.

In the 1980’s a cult sprung up, started by fans and young people, including many gay men aroused by her campy bondage portfolio, and the effort was on to find out whatever happened to America’s one time favorite pinup girl. Her fame continued to grow and with the help of attorneys she was able to rise out of penniless poverty and begin collecting royalties from all the people making money from her images.

Three years ago a mainstream film about her life were released, The Notorious Bettie Page, directed by Mary Harron and starring Gretchen Moll as Bettie, raising Bettie’s profile further. It was mostly a sympathetic view of Bettie, and that’s really how her fans feel about The Queen of Bondage: sympathetic.

She gave few interviews and even refused to be photographed in older age, wishing instead that everyone remember her when she was Bettie Page: Sex Symbol.

Here’s a film of Bettie Page, found on YouTube.

A Hound Dog Day

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 06:21:54 -0600

It was 30 years ago today when Elvis Presley made his final exit, sprawled nude on his bathroom floor, the victim of drug addiction, fear, and loneliness. Aided and abetted by his manager Col. Tom Parker and the doctors who prescribed the medications, in the end, the most famous entertainer in the history of western music met his end alone. That’s the way it usually ends with addicts.

Elvis won’t be remembered — much — for his drug addiction, although it will pop up of course. Most people, his fans in particular, will remember him the way they picture him best in their minds: the young kid who could only be viewed from the waist up on the Ed Sullivan Show because his swiveling hips were far too suggestive for network television. They’ll remember him as the man who had all the girls screaming at concerts, the young man who brought rock’n’roll to the white kids — Black music — to White radio, unheard of in 1954.
 When Elvis played The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, Sullivan wasn’t in attendance. He had been in a car accident and missed five shows. Actor Charles Laughton was the guest host and it was he who introduced “Elvis the Pelvis” to a third of the American population on September 9, 1956. I was nine months old so my recollection is a little fuzzy.

That Elvis brought Black Music to White Radio seems … ridiculous 53 years later, but that era was, for many, a desperate time. Religious fanatics were burning his records in great bonfires in an effort to stomp out the demon in Elvis’s music, certain that young White boys would turn into atheistic criminals and White girls … one shudders to think of the possibilities.
 In fairness to the religious nuts, my brother Rick and I were little hoodlums growing up, but it’s hard to imagine Elvis had anything to do with that. I blame it on Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, the stars of the hit, 1968 movie Bonnie and Clyde. They made, in our pubescent minds, being bad look so good.

Elvis Presley was hated and feared by thousands, but loved and revered by millions and the millions won that turf battle. Radio stations that wanted to compete had to play rock’n’roll, in particular Elvis Presley. Same with record stores. Want to see your sales go through the roof? Stock Elvis Presley records.
 It was the same with the Beatles nine years later (1963). I remember once going to Arlen’s department store on Forest Home Avenue with my older sister in search of Beatles albums. Her feeling of dejection when the new release she was hoping for wasn’t there was palpable. That’s how it was with Elvis.

In 1954, Blacks were forbidden by law in the South from using the facilities of White America and Blacks were systematically discriminated against everywhere else, but unlike the South, everywhere else in America did it under the radar, with a smile sometimes, but always with hate and fear. The visage of a Black Man going after your White Daughter is still a pretty powerful weapon, even today.
 A year ago during the Tennessee Senatorial race the Republican National Committee produced a television ad featuring Representative Harold Ford’s attendance at a Playboy Super Bowl party and his relationships with White women. In Elvis’s time, Ford wouldn’t have been a U.S. Congressman, and had he been known to even look at White women he would have been lynched. All across the South in Elvis’s day, it was against the law for Blacks to marry Whites and in the rest of America it just wasn’t done.
 Did the racist ad depicting the White woman telling Congressman Ford to “call me” have any effect on the campaign? Hard to say, but Ford lost by a narrow margin.

So, Elvis Presley bringing Black music to the White teenagers in 1954 was a big thing. For many in White America — especially the religious fanatics — Elvis Presley was Satan knocking on the door and when that door opened, in came the downfall of Western — Christian — civilization. Yes, before long the White radio stations were playing records by Little Richard, Fats Domino and Chuck Berry and the White girls were going all gaga for them and their music.

That was the era in which Elvis Presley broke the barriers, took down a few walls of separation between White and Black America. Some might argue Elvis’s contribution to the struggle for Civil Rights was insignificant, but that’s like saying Blacks did nothing for the advancement of the Industrial Age.
 Elijah McCoy, a Canadian-born, Edinburgh, Scotland educated mechanical engineer, invented a lubricating device for trains that eliminated the need for trains to stop to get their parts oiled. He wisely got the patent and started a company and thus was born the term, “The Real McCoy.” When people ordered the lubricating cup, they didn’t want the versions of others, only “the Real McCoy.”

Elvis wasn’t a spokesperson for Civil Rights, he didn’t pick up the mantle and say equality for all, he just played and sang the music he liked, which just happened to be the music he heard on the radio; Black music, and the guileless way in which he ignored the conventions separating White and Black America to do what he wanted opened the doors much, much wider than the Swing age when swing bands like the Thundering Herd and the Glenn Miller Orchestra played that dancing jazz they hooked into from listening to Black dance music from Harlem.
 Remember, or know of, the Harlem Renaissance? Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk were major contributors to that era of artistic brilliance.

Today it seems ridiculous to think Whites shouldn’t be listening to Black music, although it’s always been okay for Blacks to listen to White music. It’s the whole “Whites are superior beings to Blacks” notion we still carry around with us a little. Except in sports of course, but in Elvis’s day, Blacks were first getting a taste of baseball’s Major Leagues. One of my favorite players of all time, Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, broke into the Majors with the Milwaukee Braves the same year Elvis recorded his first record.

Elvis Presley will be remembered in many ways today, some of it in ridicule for his lifestyle, the really bad movies he made and the untimely manner of his death. Almost as well known as his music was his penchant for peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Like me, he loved fatty foods and that certainly contributed to his death.

But mostly he’ll be remembered as the King of Rock’n’Roll, with that deep, sonorous baritone and the joyous, uninhibited nature in which he played that music for the millions of fans lucky enough to attend one of his concerts. My favorite Elvis Presley song? I don’t know. “Heartbreak Hotel” pops into mind first, but “Hound Dog” rocks!

Let’s celebrate Elvis and his music today. Put a smile on your face.

O.J., Racists, Flag Waving and Nancy Grace

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 00:01:00 -0700

O.J. Simpson
Photo Courtesy of the LAPD

If you haven’t heard, Fox has dropped its plans to air the O.J. Simpson confession special next week, and the parent corporation, News Corp, has stopped the publication of the book. Rupert Murdoch himself, the swami behind the entire thing, issued an apology to the Brown and Goldman families. What a guy.

Personally, I say, “Print it and air it,” because this is — allegedly — a free society and we have the choice to either buy the book or not, and to watch the program or not. On the other hand, News Corp, who owns the rights to both the book and the program, have a right to dump their books and programming if they choose, self censor in other words. I wouldn’t have watched the show, I’ll be watching Survivor (I know, I’m so embarrassed) on one of the nights it was scheduled to air … (sigh). As for the book, I’d rather beef up my collection of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen novels.

Not to be out slimied, CNN and Nancy Grace will be sued over the suicide of Melinda

Melinda Duckett and Nancy Grace

Duckett, the woman whose child went missing this past summer. Duckett was the main — and only — suspect in the case so when she appeared on Grace’s CNN Headline News program, Grace treated her like a defendant on the witness stand. Hours later, after the impact of being accused, by Grace, of murdering her own child, Duckett committed suicide.

Grace, of course, stands by her behavior towards the distraught mother.

And Pahrump, Nevada, which is about 63 miles West of Las Vegas, made it illegal to wave a foreign flag! You gotta be kidding me! First Amendment be damned! Obviously aimed directly at people of Mexican descent — the creator of the law said as much when he complained about watching all those Mexican flags during the big demonstrations earlier this year, and worse yet, on the big demonstration day, all the Mexican restaurants in Pahrump were closed! Omigawd! He had to get his tacos from Jack-In-The-Box!

Well, we can assume the U.S. Supreme Court will strike that law if the lower courts do not. The brainy one behind this law, for anyone who would like to know, is Pahrump resident Michael Miraglia. First question: Is Miraglia married and if so, does his wife wear a T-Shirt that says, “I’m with stupid.” But, let’s not heap all the ridicule on Miraglia. Three of the five Pahrump city council members voted for the city ordinance.

Makes me want to stop in Pahrump on the way to my favorite city — Las Vegas, if you’re wondering — and wave flags from Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Israel, Ireland, Greece and Hungary, the countries from where my family originated, and of course Mexico and France! Righties hate the French, maybe even as much as they hate Mexicans.

Here in Sunny Sandy Eggo, one of the local newspapers, the North County Times, runs a website of course and they allow their readers to comment on the various news blogs, as most papers do.

Here’s a sample from one of their blogs, concerning immigration, from someone named Ingrid:
 Ingrid wrote on September 15, 2006 11:32 PM: "This is about money for the wealthy Americans; pay less wages get more profit. For the mexicans it is to take over the country. These people have been taught that the United States belong to them and they are trying to over-populate so that they will be in the majority. Why else would they not learn english and assimilate. They intend to take this country. Most people think it is all about money, but to the Mexicans it is more. Americans can sit around and think they are here just for the money but will find out very shortly. When they march, they fly mexican flags, they even put one on the American post office In Maywood. Do you think these people are loyal to this country? Think about it: If we went to war tomorrow with Mexico what would happen with all of these invaders in this country? They will be at war here, a different kind of war with Americans. People take off the blinders, Mexicans do not love America like you are I; they love Mexico. The only reason they are here is for the money. I forsee a civil war here if something is not done and soon. Think about it: If America were to give them rights to three states and moved all of the taxpayers out and not give federal assistance, how long would they survive? Not long, they are too dependent on American taxpayers for their existance."

First of all, let me just point out all the typos are as they appeared on the Times website (although I bolded and italicized key sentences). I just did a “cut and paste” job. Second, Ingrid contradicts herself in this racist, 244-word screed. For most of the rant, the Mexicans want to over-run America and make it part of Mexico. Then, she writes, it’s all about the money.

Racist Pig Tom Metzger

Just to be fair to Ingrid, hers isn’t the only racist rant on their website. It’s chock-full of them. San Diego’s North County was once the home of White Supremacist Tom Metzger, who has since moved to Warsaw, Indiana. The irony of a Hitler follower living in a town called Warsaw.

More irony indeed because San Diego’s North County is awash in citrus and avocado groves, places that hire many people of Hispanic descent, legal and otherwise. Would you be willing to pay $5.00 for a California-grown avocado?

I’m thinking two bucks is plenty already, but if growers are forced to hire legal residents and pay them a decent, living wage — without any assistance from our government to counteract the far cheaper produce from Central and South America — then those businesses go out of business.

Put me in the column supporting a decent, living wage for all of the people who work at the lower rungs of our society, but we have to be aware of the realities. Someone will have to pick up the cost of doing so, whether it is in the form of price supports for our goods, or welfare assistance for the people — the legal residents — who would then be out of work.

I’ve since forgotten where I was going with that rant … oh yeah, the large racist element in San Diego’s North County. Which, by the way, is the district once represented by Randy “Duke” Cunningham and now represented by Brian Bilbray who knew what the voters liked and signed on to the House of Representatives bill that called for the 700-mile fence and to make illegal immigrants felons. Maybe Bilbray isn’t a racist, I’m guessing he isn’t, but he’s just cynical enough to know how to butter the toast in North County.

Here it is, just more than 1,100 words into this and I’ve forgotten the main news of the day. Well, tomorrow’s another day, but I have to agree with comedian Louis Black. In his most recent HBO comedy special, he lamented that the news was coming too fast for good comedians to keep up. The stupidity by our government is overwhelming. I mean, 1,100 words and I’m just getting warmed up. By the time tomorrow rolls around and I think about the presidential and Iraq news, all sorts of new news will have occurred and I’ll be left, once again, trying to figure out where to start. Oy Vey.

Let’s Choose Racey

nospam@example.com (Tim Forkes) — Sun, 21 May 2006 10:51:28 -0600

Britney Spears with infant son Sean
(Photo courtesy “A Socialite's Life”)

“Have you heard the news”
“News? What news?”
“Can’t afford no shoes”

It’s a crazy world we don’t live in, we “mere mortals” who only wish we could hob-knob with the likes of Rosario Dawson and Kid Rock. Is he still famous? Anyway, at Dawson’s 27th birthday party, Tommy Hilfiger got tough with Axl Rose and punched out the tough guy former lead singer of Guns n’ Roses. The party was taking place at Plumm, a New York nightclub. Rose and his band were the featured entertainment for the affair.

Ever notice that celebrities don’t have parties, they have events? Birthday parties are like awards shows, only the “A” list people are invited, and if they ain’t comin’, invite Kid Rock.

So, Hilfiger punched Rose in a flurry that would make any lightweight amateur boxer proud and Rose … didn’t retaliate although he and his band did the song “You’re Crazy” and dedicated it to his good friend Tommy.

And here’s one for the ages: Ozzie Osbourne’s 20 year old son Jack just signed a deal with a British publisher to write his autobiography. Apparently, a lot of living goes into being the son of the man who eats bats on stage.

Not to be outdone in the “who the hell cares” spotlight, Brangelina — Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie for anyone who might not recognize the single name — have sold the photo rights of their expected child to an American celebrity magazine, most likely US, for nearly $5,000,000.00. But, Angelina is not the selfish type. The money won’t be used to spritz up the nursery, she and Brad will be donating the money to UNICEF. Good for them.

Halle Berry had a righteous indignation moment during an interview on BBC radio. The DJ tried to imitate a “big, fat” Brooklyn black man and Berry asked, “Are we having a racist moment?” The BBC says no, of course.

“Went to buy some cheap detergent
Some emergent nation
Got my load
That I stowed”

Then there’s Chris Daughtry, he of the bald head and one of the latest to be hustled off of American Idol (May 10). He’s still famous for being one of the losers. I forgot why he is most recently famous.

Here’s another “could be funny” celebrity moment: There’s a video on the Internet showing Britney Spears tripping while holding her child. Now, that’s not too shocking, most parents I know have heart-pounding moments with the kids now and then. What I found truly shocking was her clothing, blue jeans with a low-cut, long white dress-looking blouse affair — and underneath that was a black brassiere, the straps ingloriously visible and from the back, the bra completely visible. Apparently that video is pretty popular right now, maybe even more so than the Paris Hilton video, which you can now read about on IMDB.com and can be purchased through Amazon.com. What concerns me is this ghastly fashion trend of allowing the straps of your support garment to be so hideously visible.

I’m not too sure what’s going on in my head if my attention is turned towards celebrity and celebrity stalking. It came about while listening to Frank Zappa’s “Can’t Afford No Shoes” and the lyrics spoke to the great divide between the rich and us.

On one of the tabloid magazine web sites there is a poll: “Should the paparazzi leave Brad and Angelina alone?” the only two choices being “Yes” and “No.” I voted “No” just to see the results and 84% of those responding chose “Yes.” That’s kind of shocking. The very people who read those magazines and frequent their websites are the very people who give the paparazzi license to stalk celebrities and otherwise ruin a peaceful Sunday afternoon by chasing celebrities all over town trying to get a few photos.

We vote “yes” on the survey, but “No” every time we buy one of those tabloids. Were we so interested in the comings and goings of our political figures.

Can you imagine a phalanx of paparazzi tagging along behind Randy “Duke” Cunningham as he raced from his boat — I mean, Mitchell Wade’s boat — on the Potomac River to the poker and hooker parties in the Watergate? It may have been good reading for a week until the F.B.I. started investigating. Then the former congressman would have an F.B.I. tail and the paparazzi. What do you want to bet Cunningham gets a pardon in 2009? Can’t imagine the Republican Party is going to let such a prolific fund-raiser like Cunningham be tossed off the political stage when their standard-bearer can let him off the hook at the end of his administration.

Consider the possibilities if paparazzi had been skulking about Armstrong Ranch back in February when the Vice President accidentally shot his friend, Harry Whittington. It’s not likely the public disclosure of the incident would have taken such a circuitous route. Oh please, don’t respond that “it was just an accident!” I’m not disputing that.

Had paparazzi trailed Tom Delay and his pal Jack Abramoff, especially when they went golfing in Scotland — and where was the fabled British tabloid press on that one? Well, they have their hands full with the Royal Family, but still …

Our country is in the state it is because we have far more fascination with celebrity than we do civic affairs. The winners — and losers — of the so-called “reality” shows get far more of our attention than our elected representatives, so much so that they operate invisibly with little or no public scrutiny until a couple of careless congressmen get caught up in scandal. It’s a pretty good bet Cunningham would still be collecting his bribes if someone hadn’t noticed his house, when it was sold to Mitchell Wade, was over-valued almost 100%.

Still, a picture of Lindsey Lohan or Paris Hilton in an embarrassing moment — can’t beat that for eye-catching news. Lindsay? Paris? : Lindsay? Paris? Oh God, what a decision ... Let’s go with Britney.