Friday, October 03, 2008

Hot Social Commentary

Not really. I'm just absolutely lame at thinking up post titles.

Katie Price a.k.a. Jordan and Peter Andre



These 2 might need some introduction to anyone not living in the UK. Katie Price is a glamour model who uses the name Jordan. She had pretty massive boobs and has now built herself up a mini empire. She’s a business woman and her product is herself.

Peter Andre was a pop star in the early 90s, most famous for doing a song called Mysterious Girl. It was awful. The video was awful. Even pop fans thought it was awful. He was oiled, had greasy slicked curtains for hair, buffed to within an inch of his life and the video featured in a tropical lagoon. Youtube it.

About 4 (5? 3?) years ago they both appeared on I’m a celebrity get me out of here, a reality TV show set in the jungle. They met, fell in love, got married and have been together ever since.

They are universally derided in the UK for being permatanned, common, tacky and not wearing a lot. Katie Price still models under the name of Jordan, so obviously is simultaneously scorned for being naked whilst being paid for being naked (near naked? I’m not sure how far she goes). Peter Andre is derided for being talentless. He released another single after I’m a celebrity… It’s called Insania and based on something he wrote whilst in the jungle. It is also awful.

Oh yes, then there was their wedding. You could call it a monument to bad taste, which would be mean but lots of people would agree with you. I personally do not care for that much pink, but say good for them for having fun on their wedding day!

Anyway, there is a point to this background. I thoroughly admire Katie Price, I think she’s bloody brilliant. She’s done really fucking well for herself, career wise. She’s got pots of money and she’s in control of what she does. She doesn’t give a fuck what anybody else thinks an she’s brassy bold and unafraid. She’s awesome.

Now Peter Andre is a different matter. Up until a few weeks ago I thought he was an utter twat but two things have changed my mind about him. One was an interview with him in Glamour, I think it was. He was very open about the fact that he takes jobs (i.e. Insania) for money. He knew it was shit, but fuck it, he got well paid for it. Good for him.

The other thing which changed my mind was a TV interview with him I saw this morning this at the dentist. So it’s a fucking miracle I remember anything, I hate visiting the dentist. Bring on fake effective teeth I say.

Ahem, back to the point. This TV interview. Mr Andre said that he hoped young women looked up to Katie not for her surgery, but for her business sense and what she’s achieved.

That’s a really difficult thing to say in this country, because immediately people think he means that he doesn’t like his wife’s surgery (she’s had a lot). He was very definite that he wasn’t criticising her surgery and that he thinks she looks wonderful, but he was also positive that he wants young women/girls to focus on her business achievements.

How great is that? Not only does he recognise that his wife has done a lot and is to be commended for that, but he recognises that her position as a role model for other women is important, that she has something to offer young women, and that there are more important valuable things to be passed down to the next generation than just looks or one type of physical ideal. What has made Katie successful is not her looks but how she has approached her career, what plans she’s made, how she has marketed herself, her strategy, her brains. Isn’t that wonderful? Shouldn’t that be commended? By ‘that’ I mean both Katie’s achievements and Peter’s supportive attitude.

But wait, there’s more! He was also asked if Katie discussed her plastic surgery with him before she had it done. He answered no. The interviewer then suggested he should be pissed off about hat and that Katie should ask his permission/gain his agreement before she went under the knife.

Mr Andre thinks that attitude is bollocks. He compared it to a woman asking her fella’s permission what makeup or clothes to wear one night.

FUCKING RIGHT ON! It in’t anybody’s decision but the person undergoing surgery.

To me it seems clear they Katie Price and Peter Andre have a supportive relationship wherein each is treated as an equal. I love them both and I wish them many happy years together.

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