There the big stars feed the celebrity culture by arriving with an entourage of bodyguards
Posted in General on 02. Aug, 2010
There the big stars feed the celebrity culture by arriving with an entourage of bodyguards They feel they don’t exist without them In Europe everyone leaves you alone. It’s much more civilised.”She is equally dismissive of the film industry’s obsession with staying young. “In Europe there are still parts for older women because the cult of youth herer is not so strong. As you grow older you evolve, so you no longer play someone gorgeously young. There are still high-quality roles out there for older women “There should be a place for everybody.
In China the old are the most important people in their culture. Youngsters have to learn before becoming thesort of fully mature person that people listen to. If older people are relegated to a secondary position in society, then it unbalances everything People are panicked by growing older in the States Here we’re a bit more relaxed about it. We can leave silicone to them.”Why should we, she concludes, be so hung up on the idea that attractiveness is connected with age? “I now feel in full possession of my life. If you’re at ease with who you are, then you’ll be more confident, and all through your life beauty comes through confidence It’s the same at any age.
I know women of 60 who are seductive because they feel they are. Beauty is not to do with face-lifts: it’s internal.”With that, she blows out a puff of smoke and flashes me her most enigmatic smile.`Great Expectations’ begins on 11 April on BBC2.. Next week sees the launch of a significant addition to the London cultural scene: a 10-day literary festival called The Word. The programme embraces 350 readings, debates, performances, workshops and lectures throughout London’s 33 boroughs. It includes some obvious highlights – appearances by international luminaries such as Margaret Atwood, JM Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Joseph Heller, Doris Lessing, Jan Morris and Derek Walcott – and an abundance of more modest events: poetry workshops in local libraries, talks on science fiction, radio drama and children’s book illustration. It all sounds busy and purposeful, though whether we truly need another literary festival is another question It is not as if there is a shortage.
The British Council’s guide to arts festivals lists more than 70 such annual events: everything from the sizeable gatherings at Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Brighton, Hay-on-Wye and Cheltenham to the smaller get-togethers in Abergavenny, Richmond-upon-Thames and Bracknell. Culture vultures with time on their hands can while away the entire summer by checking out the scene in Harrogate, King’s Lynn, Rye, Dartington (home of the Ways With Words Festival, sponsored by this newspaper), Ilkley, Sheffield, Cleveland, Wells, Lancaster, Guildford, Canterbury and Hastings.
The modern conference industry now represents a likeable new perk for authors. They are routinely ferried around to meet one another and have dinners in nice restaurants, where they crack jokes about the inanity of the questions they get asked by the public. No one disputes that this is fun for them – but is it fun for anyone else?These literary carnivals broadcast a false image of writers as cosmopolitan, cocktail-hour jetsetters, when the truth is that they tend to be solitary types who spend most of their time scratching their heads. They also tend to promote authors rather than works, personalities rather than ideas.