Mark's history of the Hollywood publicists - how the Fixers, Fakers and Star Makers Created the Celebrity Industry.
Posts Tagged ‘John Lennon’
Debating the wretchedness of Reality Television
March 12th, 2010 | 
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I took part in the Cambridge Union debate last night, arguing for the proposition ‘This House Believes that Reality TV Represents Everything Wretched about Britain Today’. I underestimated the space, at how steeped in grandeur it is, and found myself more than a little nervous.
The debate was well attended; over two thirds full. Joining me to argue for the proposition were Max Clifford and the retiring Union president, Jonathan Laurence. Opposing the motion were Times journalist Hugo Rifkind, showbiz writer Zoe Griffin and James McQuillan, who appeared on The Apprentice.
The other speakers last night went for a comic interpretation of the motion. My technique was more serious-minded, more Old Testament – Quentin Tarantino fans might have deduced I was trying to mimic Samuel L Jackson’s famous biblical Pulp Fiction speech. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Mark My Words | 
Tags: battle, ben fogle, big brother, brixton, cambridge union, celebrity, eleanor roosevelt, fame, freak, freak show, girl guides, gutter, heracles, historian, hugo rifkind, ideas, james mcquillan, jean m twenge, jeremy kyle, jerry springer, joan of arc, John Lennon, jonathan laurence, katie price, keats, mark borkowski, max clifford, myleene klass, narcissism, ode to a grecian urn, odell, odysseus, oscar wilde, pandemic, poems, poll tax, PT Barnum, pulp fiction, simon cowell, stars, talent, the apprentice, Times, toxteth, unicef, x factor, zoe griffin | 
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Further Looting of the Dead Celebs
About a month ago, I wrote a blog on brand immortality and the way that people are exploiting dead celebrities to generate vast amounts of money in the wake of Michael Jackson’s death. Now, as the world gears up for This Is It, a film of Jackson rehearsals, CNN have come out with a report detailing what seems like the beginnings of a cult of dead celeb exploitation – there are even “death hags” who tour the sites of their favourite stars’ deathplaces, always on the lookout for morbid curiosities to buy.
Last year’s top-earning dead celebrities, according to Forbes magazine’s forthcoming report, are Elvis Presley, Charles M. Schulz, Heath Ledger, Albert Einstein, Aaron Spelling, Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel), John Lennon, Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, James Dean, and Marvin Gaye, who earned a combined $194 million in 2008.
It’s a revealing article, and it makes me think I may not have gone far enough with my predictions of the exploitations of dead stars that are to come.
To read my original blog, click here. To read the CNN report in full, click here.
