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Small details tell the stories
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Just my opinion:
We need a reality show about people's hair. By today's standards for hairstyles among celebrities, whose hair is real and whose hair is faux?
You can't tell, except for the fact so many wear the same style -- long and flowing and usually "extended" by extensions or weaves, and in any shade. I find myself wondering what they really look like, these stars with tresses not their own.
When they get a hair product commercial, such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Heather Locklear and Andie McDowell, even Queen Latifah, what is real and what is enhanced? Winners by their hair, Tyra, Beyonce and yes, even Oprah, we barely know thee.
Britney took it too far, of course. We didn't have to get that real.
Trivia: What this means in the scheme of things is of little interest to world peace or in our daily lives, but not a single female celebrity wore any shade but clear nail polish for the Oscar event. Companies that make nail polish might take note.
I'm a small detail person. I could not tell if they painted their toenails for all those stiletto open-toed shoes, but I picked up on the fingernail detail as I perused People magazine following the awards. No kidding, no color.
While on the subject of movies and their stars, I thought "Volver" was a very good foreign film, but its star, Penelope Cruz, who gave a very good performance, was far too beautiful (too much makeup) to be convincingly stuck in a small village without all the men going bonkers. Her beauty to me was a distraction because she looked like none of her siblings or her mother, and surely such a face and body would have had movie scouts courting her from around the world at first sight. She wouldn't be scrubbing floors, that's for sure. Can a woman be too gorgeous? In that film, yes.
Once again, after watching a TV special, "Gene Kelly: The Anatomy of a Dancer," and being reminded of his genius, I have to wonder why our proposed, oft-promised and totally deserved Gene Kelly statue, promised years ago, is still not a reality?
Artistically we have year-round, yet man-made magnolias in bloom in the Cultural District, but no tribute to a man who deserves a space in Pittsburgh history far more than a fake blossom. It's a bloomin' shame.
Another detail I am almost obsessive about. I have begun to count the number of times I see an actor, even a very good actor, actually swallow a drink he/she sips in a scene in a movie or on TV. I assume there is often nothing in the cup/glass, but why not actually drink something -- and be forced to swallow it, rather than memorize the "act" of swallowing? This, I realize, also does not affect world peace. It has been a long winter.
Here are other opinions I have:
Letter-writing is all but disappearing, and sending greeting cards could soon be extinct as well, which is sad indeed. Correspondence is so important in our daily lives and not just by e-mail. With stamps heading up once again to a ridiculous 41 cents, and some greeting cards -- not terribly special in design or message, outrageously priced at $5 -- how do we show somebody we care?
Offensive is the only way I can describe certain television commercials. American Freight and its screaming furniture commercials are at the top of my list and such a turnoff. I know, that's what I can do. I can turn it off or turn it down. But it invades my living room without warning.
Can you believe they are suggesting ordering chicken ONLINE rather than face the possibility of store-bought chicken being riddled with arsenic? That's the latest "scare of the day." Order chicken online? Are they kidding me?
Another sign of progress I can live without: the Whirlpool TV screen being offered for the refrigerator door, which means getting rid of all those personal magnets and pictures which now decorate and personalize our fridges. It's un-American! Stop already!
Lip service. I try to listen to the news anchors as they fill me in on what's happening in the world, but all those moist, wet, luminous lips on the women who have come so far and want to be taken seriously are, like Miss Cruz in her film ... distracting. Credibility and lip gloss ... hmmm. Can they be trusted?
For a lesson in retail, and almost a throwback to now-often absent personal service (possibly copied from Nordstrom) try Stein Mart at 8050 McKnight Road in Ross. The attention of the helpful and friendly personnel at this store's first location in the Pittsburgh area is refreshing -- so is much of the merchandise. A very nice surprise for an off-price store.
First Published March 19, 2007 12:00 am
