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Richard Botto, Editor in Chief / CEO of RAZOR Magazine, has created the definitive men's magazine which features the best in men's fashion, travel, sports, autos, celebrities, technology, humor, fiction, fitness and more.
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 WRITINGS:
RICHARD BOTTO
Back to Writings Main Menu
December / January 2004
Reality: One Story from 2003
When the girl from Nebraska decided to put her pursuit of a business
degree on hold for the prospect of celebrity, she had no idea what
she was in for.
After a casting call for a reality show and breast implants
the size of softballs, she arrived in Hollywood, at her publicist's
demands, before the holiday movie party season began to assure full
exploitation.
By February, she was in your living room in various states of
undress, cast as the girl next door gone horribly wrong. Conniving
her way toward the big money, she, at times, would forget that there
were cameras and microphones around 24/7 showing her ethical
disintegration and the boundless lengths she would go for notoriety.
We followed and dissected her every move with more interest and
attention than we dedicate to our own lives.
Over the next month, she went from America's sweetheart to
"that bitch" in four sixty-minute segments, which is to say
that
afterward the press couldn't get enough of her. They called her
unlisted number at all times of the night and staked out her
apartment. They stole her mail and rummaged through her garbage, all
of which she found amazingly cool. Even more amazing to her was that
she was asked to do a guest spot on a sit-com and was promised a shot
at a pilot in the fall. She hadn't won the cash, but she had cashed
her ticket.
In April, she found an investor to back her casual clothing
line, which existed mostly of baby doll t-shirts frayed at the edges
and jeans that rode just above the crack, but, in an inspired twist,
had rubies and rhinestones around the belt line. The kids, she
thought, meaning nearly any female in California under forty, will
eat this up.
She spent some time in Vegas during May, traveling the club
circuit with C-list celebrities who were all on a career path
slightly less traveled than those who eventually go to their graves
as the center spot on the Hollywood Squares. She invited some
"friends" over to her house to watch her acting debut, only
to learn
that she had been cut.
Undaunted, she pressed on during the summer. First, she
accepted five grand to take some artistic, nude pictures for a men's
magazine. Looking to parlay her windfall, she took $3,500 of her hard
earned bones and set out to get the sixty-five signatures necessary
to enter the Recall Election. She sent letters to her fan club
asking for their support. And then, still thirty-eight names short,
she headed to the local skateboard park in a tight tank top and found
some guys of legal age (who had nothing better to do on a weekday
afternoon) willing to put their names on the dotted line in return
for some cleavage. When asked what platform she was running under,
she responded, "The I need publicity platform"…No one
laughed.
As the calendar turned to September, she had accepted the
certainty that there would be no pilot. The phone stopped ringing and
she couldn't beg a homeless guy to rummage through her garbage
anymore. A tabloid listed her on their "10 minutes ago" list.
Taking
the no publicity is bad publicity approach, she posted the list on
her website as "Recent News."
The October issue of the magazine for which she had posed hit
newsstands and she instantly became fodder for the late night joke
writers. The backer for her clothing line pulled out after realizing
that no fashion that comes from L.A. leaves L.A. By the beginning of
November, she was back on the bus to Nebraska, her brush with fame
more like a roundhouse right to the collagen-injected kisser.
A week later she found herself replaying the details of her
experience to a close friend. As she told her story, she felt
relieved to be home, certain that over time anonymity would take hold
and that the whole experience would be washed away. When she
completed her tale, her girlfriend said, "That would make some
movie."
A movie, she thought…What a great idea.
Here's to a more "real" 2004
Richard Botto,
Editor in Chief / CEO of RAZOR Magazine - The Definitive Men's Lifestyle Magazine
www.razormagazine.com
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