Why I Feel Sorry for Paris Hilton
And no, I didn’t two days ago. But last night, I had to go and take my new professional pictures to be included in the back of my next books.
Modeling is hard.
It may not look hard, but I challenge anyone to stand in front of a camera under very hot lights to look good the majority of the time. Granted, I don’t look like a model and am not built like one, but these weren’t fashion shots we were after, either. Just one or two decent pics that my photographer can Photoshop until I’m gorgeous. How hard can that possibly be?
Well, it was a learning experience. Here’s a run down of what I learned:
First, when I think I’m smiling big, I’m not. In fact, I sort of look like I’ve smelled something bad. This does not translate well into a picture. Who wants to buy a book from someone who smells something bad?
Second, when I smile really big, I look stiff. I’m a lot of things, but stiff isn’t one of them.
Third, when I don’t smile, I look mean. The fact that I am mean is not the point. I certainly don’t want to look it when I’m trying to entice a reader into buying my book. (Okay, I know that readers do not base their bookbuying on what the author looks like…much. But I do think it’s one more element of the complicated buying process and if nothing else, an author should at least look friendly!)
Fourth, brown lipsticks look red on me. Red lipsticks look well, alien. Now, I actually knew this before…which is why I wear the darkest possible browns in order to get a rather nice looking red. Now I have photographic proof that I’m not imagining how my lips change the colors of very expensive makeup. (You should see what they do with pinks…actually, no, you shouldn’t. And you won’t. I wear no pink.)
Fifth, well, fifth has to do with dieting. If I wanted to talk about that, I’d call my mother. So nevermind.
Sixth, my young photographer is really good at what she does.
The picture on this blog is my old pic. I think it’s really good. Not that I’m in the running to take Paris’s place now that she’s in the pokey, but it’s friendly and attractive. Unfortunately, I’m no longer wearing my hair that way so I thought it was time for a change. I narrowed over 75 shots down to 6 and now I’ve narrowed it down to 3. I want 2. I’d post them here to get everyone’s opinions…but if you think I’m posting non-retouched pictures to a public place on the web, well, you’re about as nutty as Paris is going to be when she gets out of jail.
So stay tuned on that front.
That said, I do feel sorry for Paris Hilton. She’s a celebrity because we made her so. We being the public who buys magazines and watches television for yet another glimpse of this girl. Now, after years of adoring her and laughing at her celebrity persona and making her a star, we revel in her downfall. I find it disgusting at best and hypocritical at worst. I’m not saying what she did was right, but she’s a product of her enviroment and we, the general public, are part of that enviroment. We have no right to hate her. We don’t know her–not the real her, and trust me, it’s the real her who is serving time. To me, she’s a young woman who was raised poorly and is paying the price for it now. I pray for her and hope this changes her heart, if indeed it needs changing.
But if nothing else, this is a girl who manages to look beautiful all the time, even when just walking down the street to the nearest Starbucks on Rodeo Drive. After last night, that amazes me. I can’t manage to look even half as good after getting my hair professionally done, my makeup applied with expert care (by me, I happen to be good at it) and being photographed by someone who is standing still and likes me as opposed to paparazzi. Let’s give the chick a little credit for that.
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