Brick and Beauty

[Happy-Hangman]

Ten years? I think she'll be forgotten - however hard she desperately tries to keep hold of her fleeting 'fame' - in weeks. Months at the most.

[mozz]

The ironic thing about it is, with the two photos together like that, I think "same woman, 30 years apart".

[Happy-Hangman]

I do like Beard's response, the other day, to A.A. Gills original comments: “It seems a straight case of pandering to the blokeish culture that loves to decry clever women, especially ones who don’t succumb to the masochism of Botox and have no interest in dyeing their hair....It’s a case of mistaking prejudice for being witty and provocative. And it’s very easy to find yourself thinking: ‘What an odious little twit!’”

Just the last five words are sufficient for The Brick.

[kahless]

I can see where this is all heading, Brick's angling for a slot on the next Celebrity Big Brother or maybe I'm A Celebrity... so she has a further platform to push her views.

Mind you I'd probably pay good money to see her eating and puking Kangeroo balls.

[Happy-Hangman]

well, I don't watch 'I'm a Nonentity, Please Notice Me', so I'd be spared that particular horror...though I'd object to an innocent 'roo's nads being sacrificed to sate the attention-hungry fool's aspirations.

[Perdide]

Problem with those sort of celebrity shows is that they're a breeding ground for those who want to attempt to rekindle a career which faded and died 25-30 years ago - mostly by proving they're not dead. (Please old 'celebrities' either get some new material or retire gracefully)

The other type, the non-celebrity stuff, is a breeding ground for annoying people who wish to be famous without having any particular talent or skill.

Consequently any show with 'celebrity' in the title you can guarentee that 90% of the contestants you've never heard of or can only vaguely remember. The other 10% will be someone you've actually heard of currently who is being used as the big crowd magnet for the others.

As for Brick... Yeah, 10 years was probably too much. I hope she doesn't get on any of the above shows, it only prolongs the slow death shimmer of fading limelight but it won't stop it.

[Happy-Hangman]

Oh, I think it might. Her numerous interviews show that she has no real screen presence, and her self-absorbed posturing lacks the attitude to be mistaken for charisma or the guileless brainlessness to be funny. She's not sharp enough or stupid enough for her bitchiness to be funny, and without those qualities her novelty value would quickly and permanently be expended.

Also, being locked up in a house where none but the desperate and indiscriminate would be likely to succumb to her alleged (and self-proclaimed) charms, might serve to correct a number of her delusions. Can I suggest that Michael Winner be considered as a housemate...and bring back John McCririck....or get her in with Germaine Greer, Mary Beard and Moira Stuart and they can kick the crap out of her.

[runalong]

And be laughing her way to the bank

I think it's fine to ridicule and condemn but let's not make the next Clarkson with a successful career of winding people up. We've seen her ilk before ignore them and tha Mail doesn't get the page hits, the ads and so may have to find something entertaining rather than annoying

[Happy-Hangman]

The thing with Clarkson, though, is that (I'm told - as I have no interest in cars) he does actually have a good knowledge of his specific field of expertise. The rent-a-gob gubbins is obnoxious, and is usually most in evidence when he has a book or DVD to sell, but it's an off-shoot of his status as a TV personality.

It may not be a very pleasant personality - but at least he's got one. I suspect Brick does not.

Lock the likes of Clarkson in a Big Brother house or celebrity (sic) jungle camp and you can pretty much guarantee he'd be thoroughly unpleasant and calculatedly controversial. He'd be the person the viewers 'love to hate' because, at least part of the time, he'd be funny. Brick is not funny. As I've said before, without some vestige of wit - however contrived or affected that wit may be - bitchiness quickly loses its novelty.

In some ways, much though both are people I'd generally avoid on TV, Clarkson is almost an Anti-Brick. According to her aspirant TV presenters should seek to improve or enhance their appearance at all costs, because failure and unpopularity are the bedmates of the unflattering and unfashionable. Chubby, jowly bubble-permed Clarkson, with his ill-fitting leather jackets and (sometimes quite alarming) jeans disproves that. I vaguely recall catching the last five minutes of him on one of those dreadful Trinny and Suzanna make-over shows, years ago, grumbling derisively over their choices of clobber and happily tossing them aside - waddling off in his usual comfy old tat. I almost liked him, at that moment. Almost.

[windknight]

Plus he's counterpointed by Hammond and Mays, who clearly do not take him 100% seriously, and who are prepared to poke fun at him right back, and whilst having a friendly rapport with him, treat him like the buffoon he can be sometimes.

I'm not a big fan of topgear, but the few times I've watched it with a friend, I've always come away with the impression that everyone on the show, Clarkson included, is very much aware that he is a buffoon not to be taken seriously when not talking in strictly a technical sense.