PARIS HILTON issue vol. 1


aRUDE cover: Iké Udé

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PARIS HILTON issue vol. 1

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Whether by design or default, Paris Hilton is quite the phenomenon. Ubiquitous, unavoidable, by turns a delicious tabloid savor, annoying sensation, harmless celebutante, actress, "singer." She is nonetheless a fabulously rich heiress and a great party!

Recently AP (Associated Press) announced that they would never write—not even a dot—on her, "barring any major, major news, we are not going to put a single word about Paris on wire." Despite AP's effort to ignore or banish Paris, "her name did pop up in a couple of stories, despite my best efforts," Jesse Washington, AP's entertainment editor. Okay, fine, we shall award Washington C-plus for all his concerted effort.

Earlier, the naughty British artist, who goes by the nickname, Banksy, doctored 500 copies of Paris-the singer's debut album-and had them sold in about 50 stores across the UK. And his effort was rewarded nicely. Business was rather brisk, all 500 copies sold out without any complaints from customers. Though his bogus Paris album is self-promoting and clever, the titles: Why am I famous? What Have I Done? And What Am I For, sounds unnecessarily preachy and in want of humor.

At any rate, Paris has become a fair game for both her champions and detractors. A friend, a Harvard professor at that shocked me by confessing how much tabloid news she consumes, mostly because of coverage on Ms. Hilton. "She's my only guilty pleasure-what with the Iraq War, Darfur genocide, the Talibans, and terrorism, we all need Ms. Hilton", she intoned with an air of resignation. "Yes, she's certainly a guilty pleasure that's worth hiding,” she concluded. I wasn't quite sure what to make of her confession. All the same she seemed quite genuine with this revelation.

Famous-for-being-famous is not particularly illegal. Perhaps the reason that it irks some people is that they seriously think it is wrong and should be illegal. In the annals of history a handful of Ms. Hilton's predecessors eventually went from mere notoriety to full-fledged fame and accomplishment. It's been said that to be famous, "one must either have talent, be rich or amuse the poor." She meets almost all the criteria. Hence, there's hope for the heiress.

Fame comes in all manner of forms: There's Hitler kind of fame, there's Mahatma Ghandi, Michael Jackson, Al Capone, Coco Chanel, Gorge Bush, Oprah Winfrey, Albert Einstein, Jenna Jameson, even Dick Cheney if you allow. There's no ethical standard or moral yardstick by which to judge or measure the quality of fame-if there is, the line between fame and notoriety is virtually a blur.

The main concept of this issue, therefore, is to have our readers respond to questions in the following pages. In turn our editorial team will choose the best responses and reissue aRUDE Paris Hilton Issue, volume 2, subsequently. This will give Ms. Hilton a chance to answer her critics and fans alike. This is a unique editorial concept, a first of its kind in magazine history. It not only engenders readership-participation, it gives au-thorial power to them. We take no definitive editorial position on Paris Hilton, so fill in the blank for the act Two, the final chapter.

- Iké Udé

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READERS' responses

20 June 2007 submitted by Z.K.
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14 June 2007 submitted by T.S.
13 June 2007 submitted by H.M.
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