Hollywood up close and sexist

Sociopath versus pirate

She’s a sociopath, a narcissist, a pathological liar. She has  borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, bipolar disorder, an eating disorder. Johnny Depp’s lawyers have exhausted the possible DSM diagnoses in attempting to pathologize Amber Heard’s behaviour while in an abusive relationship. Meanwhile, fans and Hollywood insiders circle the wagons around the beloved star who incessantly smirks from the stand and has about as much credibility as a swashbuckler with serious addictions.

Past their prime time  

So, Tom Cruise is reviving his glory days with a sequel to Top Gun when jet fighter Maverick will soar once again after 35 years. The sixty-year-old mega star will bring back Val Kilmer, the now sixty-two-year-old actor who played Iceman, despite the actor’s need for special voice technology after surviving throat cancer. But we’ll not be seeing leading actors Kelly McGillis or Meg Ryan, who are also now both over sixty. The successor to McGillis will now be played by Jennifer Connolly, at least a decade younger. Seems about right! Can anyone even imagine a Tom Cruise Hollywood movie with a leading lady in her sixties.    

Bare-the-bump fashion

This is not your grandmother’s or even your mother’s pregnancy wardrobe. Can anyone even picture Rihanna in one of the mumu, boat-shaped-with-a-neck-bow pregnancy outfits of the not-so-distant past? The mega-star-with-child is opting instead for some big time flaunting of the baby bump: silver mesh, mini skirts, strategic cut outs, gem-encrusted belly belts… a maternity fashion extravaganza by a woman who is celebrating pregnancy and the fecund female form on her own terms.