But this Gwyneth Paltrow thing is really getting under my skin.
Like Gwyneth Paltrow, I worked in the movie business. And while I wasn’t a “star” getting called to Wisconsin on a moment’s notice, I had my fair share of work trips to New York and London and Atlanta and West Virginia. And before I retired from the business I was working on a film that was getting ready to shoot in Mexico, which would have sent me (and maybe my family) out of the country for about 6 months. (I can look back now and be thankful that project fell apart so I was given the opportunity to take stock and rethink my life.)
Also like Gwyneth, I am a real foodie (although I’m not friends with Mario Vitali). I am a recipe developer (many of my successes appear on this blog, and we’re working on our first cookbook). And I’m passionate about creating a “conscious,” natural and sustainable life for my homeschooled kiddos.
So I’ve had the good and lucky fortune to be a working mom and a stay at home/work at home mom. I feel uniquely qualified to have an opinion on her awfulness.
And part of me wants to sympathize and feel sorry for her out-of-touchedness. Because it really is so sad that she is so out of touch.
But I can’t.
Because it’s pathetic.
And disheartening.
Who on earth does she think she is to comment on the “ease” of living life of woman with a “regular” job? No doubt her nanny takes care of feeding and bathing her children, getting them to school, bandaging their hurts. Her assistant takes care of scheduling her calendar (making time for pilates and yoga and whatever other meditation time she needs). I have little doubt her housekeeper does the laundry. Her gardener takes care of the lawn. She doesn’t do her own grocery shopping. She probably doesn’t make her bed or clean her own toilet.
And she certainly doesn’t do those things when she’s working on a movie set for 14 hour days … for about 3 months of the year … a movie set where her children are welcome (unlike the kids of almost every other person on set).
Let’s consider what a day is like for a movie star on a film set. I’ll give you this: they often have to arrive early (pre-dawn) for make-up, hair and wardrobe. Sometimes they are showered. But since they’re about to have their hair and make-up done by someone else, it’s not as though they have much to do before leaving their homes except wash their bodies and don clothing. And a reminder: they’re not the first ones on set … there’s a whole team of people (Hair Stylists, Make-up Artists and Costume Designers/Dressers) who have to be ready to greet the star. And then what about the team who have to be ready to make the first scene ready to shoot when the sun comes up?
Her “consciousness” is clearly limited to her “uncoupling.”
And we are left to listen to her erudite pomposity… to get Paltrow-fied descriptions our our relationships via Slate.com (I’m apparently “magnanimously bound” to the love of my life) … to read and re-read her declaration that moms who work 9-5 jobs have it so much easier. (By the way, do you know anyone who actually has a 9-5 job? Everyone I know who works outside the home works 10-14 hour days. And most SAHMs work just as much.)
And her ability to see outside herself and her pristine elitist world … ugh … I struggle to find words for how much I dislike her.
Ugh.
Thanks for letting me rant.
xo,
Jeanne
Now back to our regularly scheduled food blog!