Just Right
A blog post I read today reminded me that I wanted to talk about Nicole Ritchie. On the Tyra Banks show, Nicole said that the stress of being constantly followed around by paparazzi is contributing to her weight loss.
"You definitely don't want people constantly looking you up and down. I know the photographers are following me every day; I know that they're looking for something wrong and that doesn't feel good at all. That obviously doesn't help me."
The blog post that I read was from Erin, who said (talking about those scary skeletal Kate Bosworth photos from the other day):
"I'm not saying the images aren't disturbing, but I'm wondering how and where do we all get off this merry-go-round when it comes to celebrities and their bodies. They're too fat, they're too thin, but they never seem just right."
When I read about Nicole Ritchie, I really felt for her. I know there are rumors that she had weight-loss surgery initially to try and lose weight, and since then has been physically unable to gain weight. Remember when she and Paris first became popular and she was the chubby one? The scenario may or may not be true, but it makes sense. Next to Paris she's fat; she feels pressure to do something drastic; she has surgery; now she's hounded by paparazzi and constantly accused of being anorexic. Poor Nicole, seriously.
"You definitely don't want people constantly looking you up and down. I know the photographers are following me every day; I know that they're looking for something wrong and that doesn't feel good at all. That obviously doesn't help me."
The blog post that I read was from Erin, who said (talking about those scary skeletal Kate Bosworth photos from the other day):
"I'm not saying the images aren't disturbing, but I'm wondering how and where do we all get off this merry-go-round when it comes to celebrities and their bodies. They're too fat, they're too thin, but they never seem just right."
When I read about Nicole Ritchie, I really felt for her. I know there are rumors that she had weight-loss surgery initially to try and lose weight, and since then has been physically unable to gain weight. Remember when she and Paris first became popular and she was the chubby one? The scenario may or may not be true, but it makes sense. Next to Paris she's fat; she feels pressure to do something drastic; she has surgery; now she's hounded by paparazzi and constantly accused of being anorexic. Poor Nicole, seriously.
posted by mo pie at 10:13 PM
7 Comments:
I hate to say it, but I agree with FinaFina on a lot of levels...
I don't want to start a huge debate, but women like Nicole Richie are human beings and it's pretty simplistic to say that by virtue of their money that they must be free from "real" problems. I would say that all of that cash makes their life more worthy of sympathy than not.
Regardless - if she does have anorexia then people should not only feel sympathy for her, they should feel afraid for her. Anorexia is an awful, awful mental illness that causes death. Yes, I too am tired of hearing, "Oh! So and so must be pregnant" when an actress has gained five pounds. Or "So and so is too thin" when they've lost weight. But if Nicole is sick, she's sick and it doesn't matter that her dad has millions.
Just this fat girl's opinion.
If you're anorexic, having people scrutinize your body that closely and that relentlessly is the worst possible thing that could happen to you, and does aggravate the problem. I feel terrible for her.
I have to disagree with finafina and anonymous on this, and heartily with erin. All this story does is confirm that having money and privilege doesn't make you exempt from issues such as anorexia. There's enough people out there that might read this, and think "I'm not alone. Even Nicole Ritchie feels terrible about this." Its sort of like when Brooke Sheilds suffered from postpartum depression. WTH could Brooke Sheilds be depressed about, you'd think. She's beautiful, she's rich, she's living a fairy tale of a life, yet she was nearly suicidal because of this awful bout of depression. And if one desperate woman picked up the phone and reached out for help because they realized "If Brooke Sheilds suffers from this, maybe I'm not alone too", (and we know there are thousands of women who did just that) God bless her for being a famous person willing to tell her story and admit that she has fears and weakness just like us "normal people." Same with Ritchie. I'm hoping that some scared teenage girl looks at her and thinks to herself, "Nicole Ritchie is many things, but fat is not one of them. Maybe I'm not really fat either, or maybe I need to get some help, too," then God bless her too for doing so.
I was listening to an interview with David Walliams (a British comedian) yesterday who was talking about the pitfalls of fame. He said that the weirdest thing was the media's need to find something negative. When you first hit the public eye comments are mostly positive. As you become more famous the negativity increases until they become really unpleasant fictional 'true stories'. For women the negativity come in the form of too fat/too thin articles. The media only writes this because the readers want to read this crap. So perhaps these articles are a sad indictment of ourselves rather than the celebs?
Oh yes, why don't we all go about ragging on those who possess traits we desire so that they feel just as crumby for having them as we do for not. Criticizing Nickole for her money and fame because you have neither is just as meanhearted and yucky as a thin girl who rags on a fat one, or a fat one who picks on a thin one or whatever. Its the same thing as what the NUFs are doing. Really, why does everyone think they must act superior to others. Minorities of all kinds may be discriminated against by some in the majority, but that doesn't give them license to bash them back. If you like "an eye for and eye" go to ancient Babylon.
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