Dear Gossips,
I read a fascinating article a few months ago about the psychology (pathology?) of the fangirl called The Killer Crush, specifically related to the behaviour of (primarily) teen girls who develop intense feelings for notorious criminals, like James Holmes. They call themselves “Holmies”, or “Columbiners”. More recently, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has inspired a devoted following too. There’s even a cross section of Tsarnaev/One Direction supporters.
I was reminded of that piece yesterday when, after posting this article on One Direction’s Harry Styles, I was shouted down by a loud army of One Directioners who insisted I was wrong about Styles’s relationships with women because their truth is that he’s one half of what they call “Larry Stylinson” -- Harry Style and Louis Tomlinson, of One Direction, are actually secret lovers and their girlfriends and female hookups are just beards. It’s not unlike the Supernatural fans out there who’ve been insisting for years that Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki are undercover boyfriends with fake wives to mask their hidden homosexuality. And they prefer it that way. They WANT this to be the reality. Very badly.
Is believing the alternative their way of rationalising the fact that they’ll never BE with their idols? If he can’t be with me, the only person he should be with is his man best friend...? What drives a girl to go to such lengths to find a conspiracy theory she can live with in order to avoid confronting the undeniable about her favourite boy band or the stars of her favourite tv show? Or a murderer. It’s too simple to say that she’s crazy or somehow lacking. The writer of The Killer Crush posits that part of the reward in this kind of obsession is being a part of a community of similar thinkers. Eventually, that sense of belonging becomes as fulfilling, if not more, than the pleasure derived from their fantasies.
If I were the Dean of the Faculty of Celebrity Studies at a liberal arts university somewhere in New England, we might have to devote an entire semester to The Fan. And not just the emotion of The Fan, but how The Fan is changing Celebrity -- from Twilight to Twitter, from content and creative to marketing and distribution, how is The Fan evolving the Celebrity Ecosystem?
Click here to read The Killer Crush.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
The New York Times tries to give January Jones a personality
January Jones. I don’t get it. Like, AT ALL. Granted I don’t watch Mad Men, but even if she is brilliant on the show (is she?), she is the celebrity equivalent of lukewarm….anything. Jones is just so boring and bland, even when an interviewer is trying to impose a personality on her, like in this NYT profile Full Story
Dear Gossips,
I can’t believe Michael Douglas won’t be receiving an Oscar nomination for his work in Behind The Candelabra. Because he is BRILLIANT in Behind The Candelabra. An actor still at the very, very, very top of his game. And Matt Damon too. And Steven Soderbergh.
Behind The Candelabra is so f-cking good, I watched it twice last night, back to back. You know what the word is? It’s a word I never, ever, ever use because it’s so, so, SO overused:
Fabulous.
But how else to say it? Fabulous, and sad, and hysterical. The kind of movie you keep playing, if only to learn the lines. What makes it even more fabulous is that fabulous was not their goal. They played it straight, no pun intended. In playing it straight, the authenticity gave way to the fabulous, organically. Read Full Intro
Shirtless Harry totally did it with Kimberly Stewart
Posted by Lainey
FameFlynet, Bauer, Splash
While Twi-Hards are melting down over #RobstenIsBrokenForNowButNotForever, One Directioners are losing their sh-t over these shirtless shots of Harry Styles holding a baby in Barcelona. 1D is currently on tour and were enjoying some down time at their hotel. Seriously, if I were 20 years younger, that would totally work for me. Full Story
Gatsby without Leo
Posted by Lainey
Ryan Pierse/ Lisa Maree Williams/ Getty
Baz Luhrmann and his Gatsby cast were in Sydney tonight at the gala premiere. Tobey Maguire was there, and Joel Edgerton, and of course Carey Mulligan dutifully promoted their film. Leo, as you know, stayed back in Cannes. As previously mentioned, Leo bailed because of a “scheduling change”. Full Story
Katy Cambridge blooms in yellow
Posted by Lainey
ANDREW WINNING/ AFP/ JOHN STILLWELL/ Getty
Mrs Cambridge attended the Queen’s garden party today at Buckingham Palace with her in-laws. She looked great in yellow over the growing heir. Not much longer now. As you can see, Kate seems to get on great with Camilla. And William? Garden parties aren’t for the Wales boys, I guess. Full Story
Jen & her Friends
Posted by Lainey
Jennifer Aniston is co-hosting the Ellen DeGeneres Show today. This was surprising to me. Because it’s not like she has a movie to promote. And she’s big enough of a star that she can afford to be more sparing with her time anyway even when she does have something to promote...although when you get into the “lifestyle” game, all those rules must change. Full Story
Smutty Tingles
Posted by Lainey
Wouldn’t you have wanted to see this in Cannes? (Dlisted)
Ewan McGregor’s new look (Too Fab)
Lance Armstrong likes getting licked there (The Superficial)
Someone paid for Stacy Keibler to go to Cannes and it wasn’t George Clooney (Just Jared)
Is she still dating Sean Penn? (Hollywood Tuna)
How does Kanye West’s girlfriend get the foundation so even all over her body? (Pop Sugar)
Benedict Cumberbatch continues to film Sherlock (Cele|bitchy)
Love Letters & Soul Mates (Romance Beat)
Oh yeah! Johnny Depp’s mugshot! (Hollywood PQ)
Well what did you think would happen going into business with that loser? (Pink Is The New Blog)
What Brad did for Angelina
Posted by Lainey
For the second week in the row, PEOPLE’s cover story is Brange with details from “insiders” about how Brad Pitt helped Angelina Jolie through her mastectomies: "Brad did everything he could to keep things secret and protect Angie. They really wanted Angie to be able to recover and rest before they shared the story. Full Story
You stay classy, Anchorman
I have this horrible thought that I cannot shake—what if the new Arrested Development isn’t as good as the old? It’s been ten years since the show first premiered—at this point, isn’t the nostalgia part of the love? I live in increasing fear of the new episodes not living up to the hype and somehow retroactively tainting the original run of the series. Full Story
Andrew kisses Emma
Posted by Lainey
Larry Busacca/ Getty
Well, they’re still together, for now. Then again, Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield’s love journey hasn’t been fraught with as much drama as Robsten, both from outside factors and inside influences. At least not yet. Emma spoke at the Peace, Love & A Cure Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation benefit yesterday in New Jersey. Full Story
How Leo parties in Cannes Part 2
Posted by Lainey
FameFlynet, KHAP/ Splash
Surrounded by beautiful women, of course. Click here for Part 1 posted yesterday. Last night Leonardo DiCaprio, still in Cannes, hit up the De Grisogono party at the Eden Roc. The De Grisogono party is one of the more hilarious festival events for its high low factor. Full Story
Totally forgot about The Wolverine
When Lainey asked if I wanted to write about The Wolverine’s new trailer, I had a moment of, “What is she talking about…?” and then I remembered Hugh Jackman’s new movie, due in July. But I forgot about it. I even wrote about the first Full Story
The War of Bella & Edward
Posted by Lainey
AFP/ Getty
Hey Lainey, please tell us what's going on with Rob and Kristen. Nothing makes sense for us. We have that theory that they're both moving back to Rob's house because her's on sale since January. And since there was construction work at Rob's house since last summer, which is now finished, we thought that was maybe the reason why they bought Kristen's house in the first place and are now selling it, so they can move back to Rob's house. Full Story
