Spin Again - on Kristen Stewart, Lisa Ling

When my friend called the other day to talk, she waited until I was fully primed in the conversation before dropping a truly delicious story on me that unfortunately would negate the friendship if I reprinted it here.  But as she finished, she sighed “it just goes to show.   Don’t ever meet your heroes, man.”

I laughed at her, of course.   But now I might have to include “and use caution when you follow them on Twitter, because you might end up liking someone you don’t, out of spite”.

I was really surprised when Lisa Ling, whom I’ve always enjoyed, and who seems to have a healthy tongue-in-cheekness about her media career and the distance between her and “celebrities”, tweeted:  “Kristen Stewart, you f'd up my friend.”  With a link to the Robert Pattinson interview on The Daily Show. Right above a tweet about bullying.  No joke.

I know Ling only meant that Pattinson came off well on the show; many others said it too.  But the result here is that after I tie myself in predictable knots about whether Ling’s Twitter is her own and she can do anything she wants with it, and why she would do this when I bet she would call herself a feminist, and maybe she knows some insider trading or something about the relationship, I am forced to come down on the side of Kristen Stewart yet again.

How did I get to this place?  I am way more Ling’s demographic, in every way, than Stewart’s; I whined about how Stewart was overrated -- and not that long ago!  But because this “you f’d up” attitude doesn’t just come from Ling or from Twitter – it’s coming from all over – I am finding myself her reluctant defender.  This article about Stewart not returning to the Snow White And The Huntsman franchise spells out any number of potential changes - but the headline sure reads like she was fired, huh?

She cheated on her boyfriend.  Not her husband.  She’s only been old enough to DRINK FOR A YEAR.  At worst this was a very bad decision for her, personally. There are college seniors (look at me with the American terminology) doing way worse as we speak. For that matter, identically-aged Taylor Swift is inserting herself physically into Camelot as though she can just will herself a Kennedyship.   People who are young do dumb things.  If you didn’t, you wouldn’t grow up.   You’d have the mental sophistication of a seven-year-old in your 40 year old body.  

But we haven’t had a real scapegoat in awhile – something to remind people that women can’t be trusted, especially the ones who don’t want to settle down like a good girl.  So I guess Stewart has to hold the torch until Rihanna or Miley Cyrus or Selena Gomez does something to displease.  Because they will.  Because they’re young.