she of many defense mechanisms...

On the cusp of Paris Hilton's cd release, I found this CNN snippet pretty interesting. Interesting because it seems to be a common theme the easy-target, easy-money, media-birthed, almost-icons use these days: "That person you're making fun of isn't the REAL me...I keep the REAL me hidden so I can't be judged."

Here's an excerpt:

"I'm always playing a character," she says. "I don't talk like this really -- like a baby. I don't act like myself in public, because I don't really want to show everyone the real me. Because I have no privacy whatsoever, the only thing I have is who I really am."

It's an interesting tactic. He Who's Name I Dare Not Type Lest I Give Him More Attention did it. Paris takes it one step further by refusing to own up to her own tunes in a club because she knows the second people realize they're dancing to, yes, Paris Hilton, they'd vacate a dance floor more quickly than a JC Penny's store. It's probably a smart move. Afterall, if I hadn't known who sang "Stars Are Blind," I wouldn't have felt so guilty turning it up or singing along.

BUT, the trouble is, it's sort of like crying Personality Wolf. For all of the times someone famous chooses to disconnect themselves from something they're embarassed to have done, or something that didn't make much money in the end, or something that gets them bad press by saying, "HA! Suckers! I fooled ya GOOD this time," it makes them that much less able to project anything legitimate and expect us to bite.

If, for instance, every time Paris films another season of "The Simple Life" and writes off her entire personality as "a character that she plays" and insists that nothing we see on the show is authentic Paris, then why should we believe that when she donates some money to a charitable cause, or writes one of her own songs, or is quoted in a magazine saying something witty that it isn't "just another character" that she's playing.

If Paris (or any high-profile celebrity that feels they've got plenty to lose by being unguarded in the public arena) is really trying to protect her authentic self from judgement by fabricating a persona for every contingency, how does she manage to separate what she considers the "real" Paris from all of the alter egos in the long run? And if, by protecting yourself from all negative judgements, you manage to also protect yourself from any positive review as well, doesn't that sort of negate the entire experiment? If by putting a more redeeming public image in the closet for fear someone might DARE say or think or write anything judemental about the REAL Paris helps her sleep better at night, good for her...but what happens when she wakes up one morning and can't shake the roll-playing...will she feel better for having spared herself theoretical judgement?

Yep, I'm probably taking this a few steps too far, she was just making a fluff point, it's just a defense mechanism, we've all got 'em, but I think this article got to me because the same faces that leap at the opportunity to get magazine covers and front row seats at the Diddy parties and the awards shows and the St. Tropez celebrity yacht weddings and the after-bashes and the invitation-only events don't mind being seen when it serves their purpose. But the second they have to defend something they've done, they beg not to be seen as role models and claim nothing they're seen doing is "really" them anyway. Of course, they're famous, rich, dumb, why do we expect much more from them, but it's just becoming such a cop-out.

I say, surprise us all Paris. Do something authentic. Or at the very least, make sure your cd upstages Jessica Simpson's.