Losing Their Religion
Maybe it’s time Hollywood gave up the Hinduism thing. Several groups protested last week when both TV’s “Xena: Warrior Princess” and actor Mike Myers used religious imagery in ways that Hindu activists said was offensive. Myers says he was actually trying to satirize pop culture’s fixation with Eastern cultures when he painted his face and palms for April’s Vanity Fair. But many Hindus, still smarting over Madonna’s mix of body paint and suggestive dancing at the MTV Awards, aren’t amused. “Vanity Fair would not do this with a rabbi or a priest,” says Sreenath Sreenivasan of the South Asian Journalists Association. Amen to that, brother.
Costume Drama
“Star Wars” mania continues to land in the most unexpected galaxies. This week, Vogue shows off six pages of costumes worn by Queen Amidala in “Episode One: The Phantom Menace.” Then again, the costumes, designed by Trisha Biggar, cost more than couture–$60,000 each. And to think Sir Alec Guinness only got to wear a dingy brown bathrobe.
Keeping Up With the Joneses
You can take the Arkansas out of the girl’s hairdo, makeup and wardrobe, but you can’t keep Paula Jones out of Arkansas. Jones is leaving California–and her husband–and moving back home. The Joneses insist their marriage isn’t in danger, but they’re certainly headed in different professional directions. Steve plans to pursue an acting and writing career–quite a leap for a guy who only last year was a Northwest Airlines counter clerk. Paula is going to be a manicurist. Just like Lorena Bobbitt.
