On the fence: The Kardashians

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous

Kardashian over-saturation hit an all-time high in 2011 with Kim’s 72-day marriage and subsequent divorce from Minnesotan basketball player Kris Humphries. The is-it-or-isn’t-it PR move has given the Kardashians higher ratings and a less-than-favorable public opinion.

My favorite Kardashian oscillates between Kourtney and Khloe. Kourtney has great style and has the zen-like attitude of not giving a shit about any drama that goes on with her sisters. And Khloe is hilarious.

But the Kardashians as a whole have more than a few smudges on their record.

The Evidence

Kim and Ray J film a sex tape, and then profit off of it. It also skyrockets her into the media as the new Paris Hilton. -3

The Kardashians aren’t known for being drunks, drug users or extreme hot messes. +1

They are business women. And in the world of reality TV shows, being successful at something is a HUGE accomplishment. +1

The Kardashians will promote ANYTHING. -1 

Keep it up, you crazy kids.
Keep it up, you crazy kids.

Kourtney and Scott’s relationship is rocky and weird at times, but they have a child together and keep working on their relationship. In the day and age of the quickie marriage and divorce (Kim!), these two unmarried people show that real commitment and hard work goes into staying together. +2 

Kim took a shit on the state of Minnesota. BOO! -1 

Reports of their clothing lines being made by children working in sweatshops. They claimed to be none the wiser, which is probably bullshit. Nothing gets by Kris Jenner. -2 

The Score

As much as I like Kourtney and Khloe, the Kardashians come out with a -3. They’ve got a lot of work to do if they want to keep their empire on the move. I suggest ditch the child labor; make your clothes in the states! Even if they’re more expensive, everyone loves homemade goods. A little social consciousness goes a long way. Keep the midwest bashing to a minimum, Kim. Minnesota is awesome. And make sure you know everything about the products you promote!

What do you think about the Kardashians?

Editor’s Note: They have health body images. +1 

Follow 20poorandfabulous on Facebook and Pinterest. Just do it. Do it for the Kardashians. They want you to. They told me. Khloe’s here now. 

On the fence: Taylor Swift

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous

Taylor Swift 

The first time I watched anything dealing with Taylor Swift was a performance of “Should’ve Said No” where she had a costume change and ended her performance under a rain machine. Besides being a little pitchy, that performance rocked and I decided to check out her album.

But then came the Kanye-VMA debacle. It gave the gossip and entertainment mags something more interesting to talk about, you know, other than the Paris Hiltons or whichever socialite was being a general annoyance to the American public. Kanye got way too drunk and interrupted Swift during an acceptance speech for Best Video, which was obviously rude and spawned a year of never ending internet memes.

The Evidence 

What I thought was unsavory about Swift during this debacle was that West’s mother Donda died less than two years earlier, and Kanye hadn’t stopped working since then. Cue, spiraling out of control. He issued countless apologies on countless crappy tv shows, all of which Swift half-assedly accepted, as she looked as thought she enjoyed the free press more. 0

Swifty rips her shitty, metrosexual ex-boyfriends new b-holes after they dump her via text message. +2 

Her backup bands have the worst hair imaginable. But that’s not her fault. 0

She is always writing songs about having a broken heart, and is starting to sound like a broken record. -1

Great hair. +1

She has great, classy style, and a new spread and cover for Vogue. +1 

She covers a new song relevant to the city she is touring in. Way cool. +1

Her surprise face. -1 

The Score

Taylor comes out with a +3 advantage. Her style and penchant for embarrassing guys who totally deserve it is way awesome. However, she really should do something about those backup dancers’ hair. Yuck.

On the fence: Rooney Mara

Posted on by 20poorandfabulous

Rooney Mara. You’ve heard of her, or seen her in the past couple of years: Either in The Social Network as the girl who dumps Zuckerberg on his ass or the girl with the dragon tattoo. She’s been talked about around the style blogs as having an edge and the gossip blogs as being kind of an ungrateful bitch.

Rooney Mara at the Paris premiere of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Photo: Elen Nivrae
Rooney Mara at the Paris premiere of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Photo: Elen Nivrae

Background information

Girlfriend’s family is LOADED. Great-grandparents on both sides of her family founded the Pittsburg Steelers and the New York Giants. Her uncle co-owns the Giants. More football shit. Wow.

Her sister is Kate Mara, an actress you may or may not have seen in her slew of indie movies and supporting roles.

Rooney Mara’s real name is Patricia Rooney Mara. I can see why one would drop the ‘Patricia’. It’s not the edgiest name alive, if that’s what she’s going for.

She went to NYU for psychology, international social policy, and nonprofits. +1

She started acting in television and film in 2005. Biggest jobs: A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Social Network and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

The Evidence

Straight from her mouth 

Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander on the cover of W magazine, Photo: W Magazine
Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander on the cover of W magazine, Photo: W Magazine

On the campaign trail for GWTDT, she spoke about her first major role on an episode of Law and Order: Special Victim’s Unit. She played a formerly obese girl who beats up fat people with her boyfriend. Rooney ungratefully dished her opinion on the episode.

“Being on Law & Order: SVU was so awful. So stupid. People are obsessed with that show. I don’t get it. Me and my boyfriend—although I don’t look old enough to have a boyfriend—went and beat up these fat people, and at the end of the show you find out that I used to be obese and I hate fat people. It’s ridiculous. Who would ever do that? Who would beat someone up because they’re fat? And as retribution, they sodomized her. I mean, I’ve been sodomized since the beginning of my career. I should have known then it would come full circle.”

Yeah, it sounds like a pretty stupid premise for an episode, but there’s something so unkempt and ungrateful about a successful actress criticizing roles that supported her rise to fame. I’m all for eccentric artists, actors and musicians. It makes their work more interesting. +1 But it’s a fine line to walk, especially in Hollywood, when it comes to telling the truth. The majority of the time, the poor little rich kids end up sounding like huge turds.

-1

Rooney Mara arriving at the 2012 Golden Globes wearing a Nina Ricci dress, Photo: via deadline.com
Rooney Mara arriving at the 2012 Golden Globes wearing a Nina Ricci dress, Photo: via deadline.com

Style 

Her style has been pretty bold and interesting. She’s been wearing lots of cutout dresses that definitely play up her edgy media persona. Everyone was waiting to see what she would wear at the Golden Globes. She chose a Nina Ricci dress with her seemingly signature cutout style. +1

The Score

Rooney comes out slightly ahead with a +2 advantage. She’s definitely a girl to keep an eye on in 2012. Either for brilliant movie roles or something outrageous that comes out of her delightfully uncensored mouth.