Models, actresses, and Valerie Bertinelli on People magazine

So here is a question. What is fat? Because the answer is very different for men and women. And that answer is the motivation of tens of millions of dollars in weight loss programs, ads, diet fads, magazines and so on.

I was wondering this recently as I was looking for models for my upcoming model photo shoot for my designer clothing lines. I decided to write on it after seen the cover of People magazine with Valerie Bertinelli.



Now there is no question that Ms. Bertinelli looks good. Considering her age and being a mom, very good indeed. But it was not like she was a slobbering mass of fat previously. In fact, if you look across the nation, at 172 pounds and 5’2” just 2 years ago she was about the norm.

But such a shape won’t get you on the cover of a magazine, or in many a movie role. For a woman. Yet I have to wonder why?

I recall how the nation was ogling the shape of Jennifer Lopez. Because she was considered by Hollywood standards to be voluptuous and extremely curvy. But in fact she was just the normal size of just about any Hispanic/Latino woman of her age in New York City. Hell, in the Bronx you can walk down the street and see a dozen women with better figures every day of the summer.

I recall how I had a conversation with a friend, who informed me that Beyonce is a plus-sized woman. I still reel with amazement at that. Most Black women I know have her shape and weight – again if not better.

So why is it that women must strive to look like Gabrielle Anwar from Burn Notice. Who I equate with anorexia and would never want to touch for fear of breaking her.

This is especially true when you consider men are not held to the same standard. Jack Nicholson, which Hollywood still considers sexy, is hardly fit or trim. And there are a host of men, Will Pertersen, Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburn, ect. that have varying degrees of extra weight and yet are still considered good looking and ready to work.

Now there is nothing wrong with anyone who wants to lose weight. Or anyone losing an extra person in fat off of them. It’s great that looking and being healthy is acknowledged. But I don’t get the drama associated with it.

I have been told that some models and actresses are just too big. That they are not thin enough by industry standards. Yet I know that most men find the more realistic female models and actresses to be very attractive. In fact every model I have used or will be using in my next photo shoot is an attractive successful real woman. As opposed to the look of starvation found in say America’s Top Model.

So, I want to ask the women out there. Does it matter to you. Beyond any one woman losing weight, does it matter when you see an actress in a movie how much she weighs? Will a woman buy clothing modeled by a woman that looks anything but anorexic?

And to the guys, virtually all of whom date and marry a woman that is anything but a size 0, do you really want a woman with the shape of one of the Olsen twins – or Beyonce?

I really want to know, because I think all my models are beautiful and real examples of women. And I will not go with an anorexic looking model for my clothing lines. So I want to know if that’s shooting myself in the foot or not. I won’t change, but I want to know the battle I am facing.

Replacing Gil Grissom - Fishburne or Russell or Malkovich

Oh how the rumors are flying now. With the fact that William Petersen will be ending his well-known role of Gil Grissom on C.S.I. the race has been on for producers to find a replacement. Previously I stated that I felt without the presence of Grissom the show was more than likely to fold. I may have spoken too soon.

The buzz is out stating that Laurence Fishburne will be stepping in and heading the C.S.I. original. Now that is a surprise to me. Fishburne is a definite presence and is renown for his roles in movies, like Apocalypse Now, The Matrix, The Tuskegee Airmen as well as stage like Thurgood. Obviously the producers of C.S.I. are looking for serious star power to fill the gap Petersen will create.

Is this enough to make the show continue to be interesting and viable? That’s hard to say. The purported storyline that would go with the character replacing Grissom is that the character would have

“same genetic profile as a serial killer but hasn't previously acted on any homicidal impulses.”

Now what that exactly means I’m not sure. It could be a spin in the series similar to the premise on the cable television show Dexter – where the lead is a serial killer but works within the legal system. It could be that the thought of such could drive the back stories on the television program.

Either way I am sure that Laurence Fishburne is more than capable enough to lead this popular show.

But the Hollywood rumor mill has a few other choices in mind as well. Also slated to be in the running for this program is John Malkovich and Kurt Russell. Both are strong film leading men, just like Fishburne.

For me, considering the proposed storyline that goes with the top spot, I would prefer Kurt Russell I think. He has a hard edge (like the Snake Plisken character from Escape from New York) to his characters that could be played well off of his generally calm demeanor. I can easily see him as a very dark, but highly charming character.

It’s not that Laurence Fishburne or John Malkovich can’t do the same, they have. But I think Russell can be more believable as a vile, sinister, evil and yet deceptive character. He really has the look for it.

So here is a question, who would you prefer as the lead of C.S.I. – with the understanding that he may or may not also be a serial killer:

• Laurence Fishburne
  
  
• John Malkovich
  
  
• Kurt Russell
  

Television gets old and new

So there is a bunch of news in the world of television. There is an old friend returning and a current favorite departing.

The first item I noticed deals with the loss of a current favorite. I really enjoy CSI, the original. The character of William Petersen is that something extra you don’t often see on any program. He’s unabashedly intelligent, loyal, dedicated, and relatively issue free. In current television and a media that’s obsessed with the quirks of every personality, real or imagined, you really don’t see this.

But after soo many years, Gil Grissom will be leaving CSI for good. And I believe the series will end shortly thereafter.

Face it, Gil makes the show go round. Unlike other programs like Law & Order, or E.R., where every character is replaceable CSI is driven from the top down. [Note that in E.R. the loss of several actors – George Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Noah Wyle – the ratings have diminished with each exit. This show should have ended the day that Wyle left as his character was the central theme that made it make all sense. Since his departure I know none that watch it. A similar statement can be made about Jerry Orbauch and his Lenny Briscoe character.] The show can survive the loss of most any other character, and has, but Grissom is the glue that keeps it together.

So I think this next season will be the end of this program. What a shame.

But the timing could be worse. 2 or 3 years ago such an impending thought might have meant that yet another reality program would be hitting the airwaves (I think the only thing left was to watch celebrities and ordinary attention deprived adults make coffee). Alas that trend if finally dying, none to soon either. So the void needs something big to fill it.

That honor will likely go to Michael J. Fox. He is returning to the small screen. But not in a series. Still the fact that less competition will exist and quality acting will be available was not missed on Dennis Leary. He convinced Fox to join him in his hit show Rescue Me.

If you have not seen the drama, then you aren’t watching FX Network, and I can’t imagine why not. Rescue Me is hard to describe. It’s the life of a fire station, particularly the Dennis Leary lead. His life is enough of a mess to make Perez Hilton look normal, and Britney Spears sane. But it is written honestly and with intelligence. It has moments to challenge your views, and make you laugh. It’s almost real, and that’s where the pleasure is.

Michael J Fox will add to this. He is playing a man in a wheelchair, which plays on his known illness. He is the love interest of the overly jealous and easily prone to violent outburst Leary’s estranged wife. If you want to see drama imagine the reactions of a man who saves lives on a regular basis, is jealous, is violent, who occasionally speaks with dead people, as he hits a man in a wheelchair. It’s a low act and he will be fighting with himself over that, as Fox plays the moment with a performance that we rarely get to see.

Or at least that’s what I’m expecting. We shall see.