Self-Indulgence: Why I'm a Fan of Frances Ruffelle

It's fashionable at times to dislike certain people.  Be they entertainers, politicians, athletes, people from your home town...it seems like there are certain folks that others pick on when they want to trash someone.

9 times out of 10, the someone being picked on is someone that I like or adore.  Even if I don't know them personally...well, everyone has their favorite celebrities, right?

Happy 70th Birthday, Raquel!

That's right, folks.  Pop culture icon Raquel Welch is the big 7-0 today.  Hard to believe, because she still looks damn good.

1970 publicity shot for Raquel's film
Myra Breckenridge

Raquel earlier this year.

Self-Indulgence: Christina Hendricks

It occurs to me that my recent post about how the entertainment industry is destroying all the beautiful, healthy, natural looking women was a little bitter and cynical.  After all, there's one gal out there with a real figure just made of curves and she's making a name for herself.  (The only fake thing about her is her hair color.  She's a natural blonde, but she's gone red for years.  Even better!)
Christina Hendricks is currently best known for her role as Joan on AMC's Mad Men, but she's appeared in plenty of other programs, and she's sure to go far (I hope!)
So here then, a few images of one gal who's keeping it real in the entertainment industry.

This Vain World...

So I read something on Facebook that upset me.  (I'm sure those of you who know me are shocked.  I'm cheesed off over some random internet thing!)

Shirley Manson asked her fans if it's possible that she's insane because she, unlike some of her friends and a large chunk of people in the entertainment industry, refuses to do the whole plastic surgery/Botox/"oh just go and pave your face already" thing.  Prior to this, Shirley has always come out strongly against that sort of physical tampering, at least for herself.  I suspect this sudden insecurity could be the result of a recent birthday, but it brings up a few important points for me.

I'm not against the idea of people changing themselves physically in any way that they find personally fulfilling.  Piercings, tattoos, nose jobs, body modification...whatever you're okay with, whatever you want, that's great.  However, I am against the way that the media continues to push a ridiculous and often impossible ideal of beauty, even with all of the backlash and outcry against such portrayals.

Once upon a time, it was all right for entertainers to look fairly like the selves they had been born as.  Oh, sure, someone like Fanny Brice might have a nose job, but a lot of the time, make-up and good lighting hid a multitude of "imperfections".  Then came Hollywood, and starlets had to be thinner, and thinner, and thinner...because the camera ads weight...and they've continued to get thinner and thinner until they look like a crop of starved urchins.  Now, I'll grant you that some people are naturally thin; but when you have to be so thin that you begin to look ill, that's too far.

After the jump: some photos of the way women in the entertainment industry were once allowed to look, along with commentary on how they might end up now.

The Silent Majority: Clara Bow and Louise Brooks

I had been wanting to do a semi-regular series on this blog featuring some of my favorite stars of the silent film era; the new interest of a friend in silents has led me to go ahead, as well as giving me a title (thanks, Elizabeth).  So here it is, ladies and gents, the first enstallment of a picture feature I'll call The Silent Majority.

(NSFW due to one instance of what I like to call tasteful nudity!)

Clara Bow is still remembered today by many as "The It Girl," while Louise Brooks was, until recently, often forgotten by all except film historians and a group of loyal, dedicated fans.  Clara and Louise were both influential as far as the "look" of the flappers and jazz babies of the 1920s.  Chances are, if you've seen a film set in the 1920s or 1930s and there are any pictures of then-popular film stars featured, then you've seen both of these ladies.

Self-Indulgence: Ladies I Adore...

This is one of those droolerific posts where I admit to being incredibly homosexual in the way that some women are.
Over the course of my pop culture obsession, I've found myself drawn to certain actresses for any number of reasons.  So, after the jump, here are just a few of the lovely ladies who are tops in my book.