Slate's Bizbox
the breakfast table: An e-mail conversation about the news of the day.

the breakfast table
entries
123456789101112
from: George Rush
to: Lloyd Grove

The Art of Rubbernecking

Posted Tuesday, March 26, 2002, at 2:43 PM ET

Who are these people?

Dear Lloyd,

I trust your red-eye flight from L.A. to D.C. left you refreshed. I'm glad to see from your column that Tony Curtis is still spewing about Hollywood's failure to appreciate him. His anti-Semitic conspiracy was a new spin. But he said something along the same lines to me once. We were at the Night of 100 Stars dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where once a year a lot of antique character actors from F Troop and Rawhide and older movies, like Come Back, Little Sheba, emerge from their crypts to watch the Oscars. Jane Fonda's award just set Tony off. He said that the dining room was filled with stars who deserved it more than Fonda. He included himself. I have to say, as much as I get a kick out of Tony, and cherish Sidney Falco in Sweet Smell of Success, the guy was in many more bad movies than good ones. (Check out his oeuvre of dreck on Imdb.com.) I think even he would say he made some bad decisions.

Just to finish up on Oscar night, I see that "Page Six" has Tobey Maguire with Audrey Tautou at the Vanity Fair party—even though he's been going out with his Spiderman co-star Kirsten Dunst. Apparently, Audrey preferred Friends star David Schwimmer, who escorted her out of the party. Certain moments from the party keep flickering in my head. Like the scene where Rupert Murdoch, his young wife, Wendi, his son Lachlan, and his wife, Sarah, gathered around Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann to examine the two Oscars the film had won. Rupert held one of the heavy statues in his hand, assessing its weight—whether, put on a scale, it would balance the amount of money his studio had spent on the picture. This, as Wendi stroked the front of his unbuttoned tuxedo shirt. Then there was Paul McCartney. He came in and, after a quick drink, ripped off his jacket and started dancing with his fiancee, Heather Mills, in the front room of Morton's. No one else was dancing. You wouldn't think he'd be big on the song that was on—"I Will Survive." But Paul just wanted to get down. He did a few disco moves and a little jitterbug. At 59, he seemed to be having as much fun as when he hit the dance floor at the Cavern Club, all those years ago. It was such a joy to watch, I was afraid that photographers would scare him back to his banquet, which they did, but not until they'd danced some more, to "(We Made) Eye to Eye Contact." In that situation, I actually found myself averting my eyes—again, not wanting Paul to feel self-conscious (as though I could make a guy who's been filling arenas since Shea Stadium feel self-conscious). I mention this in light of your confession of squeamishness about gawking at the celebrity canoodle. I know the feeling, but I've learned to FIGHT it, dammit. What good are you as a gossip-monger if you don't know how to rubberneck? Have to sign off for now. I have a camera crew waiting from Extra to talk about precisely this sort of trash.

Cheers,
George

the breakfast table
entries
123456789101112
from: George Rush
to: Lloyd Grove

The Art of Rubbernecking

Posted Tuesday, March 26, 2002, at 2:43 PM ET
Print This ArticlePRINTDiscuss this in The FrayDISCUSSEmail to a FriendE-MAIL
Share on FacebookPost to MySpace!Share with MixxDigg ThisShare with RedditShare with del.icio.usShare with FurlShare with Ma.gnolia.comShare with SphereShare with Stumble Upon
Lloyd Grove, a 22-year veteran of the Washington Post, took over "The Reliable Source" column in May 1999. George Rush writes the "Rush & Molloy" column for the New York Daily News with his wife, Joanna Molloy.
Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum
What did you think of this article?
POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES

Reader Comments From The Fray:


Let's face facts, all this stuff about terrorists, the Middle East, Enron, Northern Ireland, and the mid-term elections is kind of a downer. Finally, Slate has bravely put forth two people who write about celebrities. I mean I like politics and foreign affairs as much as the next guy, but this has been a long stretch without a lot of humor. Finally, the "Breakfast Table" addresses the real issues: Is Russell Crowe a thuggish alcoholic, do movie people act as badly as we hope they do, and do gossip reporters feel like badly dressed party crashers? Apparently, the answer to all these questions is yes. I for one hope this exchange continues into an exploration of the sexual relationships between famous married people and relatively attractive starlets. By exploration I mean naming names and the reactions of the betrayed spouses. Onward, no more international bummers, and drinks for everyone.

--Neill Hamilton

(To find or answer this post, click here.)


Everybody bitches about the speeches going on too long, but this isn't the problem. We want to see people who are happy to receive the award. It's part of the reward itself to get a multi-million-person captive audience for a minute or two. No, the Oscars seemed to run long this year because the running time was fueled by the Academy's own filmmaking: the innumerable montages, tributes, and other "entertainment" that looks for all the world like it was inserted to pad out the ceremony time-wise. We could do without three honorary awards with a montage each. We could probably get by without the circus acts, the meaningless pre-recorded comments, and the insider's walks down memory lane.

Or could we? I was entertained by all these things, and would regret seeing them go. I like the idea that the academy hold reverence for people I've never heard of because they were behind-the-scenes. If you get bored easily, don't watch; or wait until the next day when it's all boiled down to more manageable chunks of highlights. If you want to see what the Academy wants to offer, then by all means do so--but get ready to hunker down

--Mangar

(To find or answer this post, click here.)

(3/26)

Washington Post
The Washington Post
OPINIONS
Assessing Sarah Palin
| Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist, John Podesta and others weigh in.
Colbert King: She's No HillaryEditorial: Is She Ready for This?
PLUS » PostPartisan: Quick Takes from Opinions