Elizabeth Went Out With a Laugh

Elizabeth Taylor's funeral was held yesterday and, at her request, began 15 minutes after the scheduled start time.  It was announced that the legend who was notorious for being late for everything, "wanted to be late for her own funeral."

Read all about the funeral here. 

"We Must Never Forget Elizabeth Taylor"

You must read this tribute to Dame Elizabeth.  Here's an excerpt:

"Today I hope she is laughing with Rock and Roddy, Richard, Eddie, Mike and the 30 million people we have lost to AIDS. For those of us she has left behind, please whisper a prayer, light a candle, give a chant or whatever it is you do to take just a moment to thank Elizabeth Taylor.


Over the next few months as we write the 30 year history of AIDS, this is a call to honor a lady who not only cradled us in her arms; she made damn sure the world did as well. In 2000, Queen Elizabeth named her a Dame. Go forward knowing to so many of us, this Dame was truly our Queen Elizabeth."

Quote of the Day

"There's a lot of Hollywood cause-puffery these days, but what I loved about Taylor is that she meant it, deep in her bones. That was obvious from her timing—she became an AIDS activist when everyone else was running for the hills. And she was an activist. The first time I met her she raved about the condom we put over Jesse Helms' house and said, 'The next time you do something like that again, invite me along.' I couldn't help but laugh, imagining her on top of a roof unfurling a gigantic condom."

--Peter Staley, co-founder of Act Up, remembering Elizabeth Taylor.

Elizabeth Taylor Dead

A local radio station has just announced the death of Elizabeth Taylor.  I haven't found any other mention of this.

UPDATE:  Apparently it's true.  Elizabeth Taylor died this morning of congestive heart failure.  She was 79.  Her son, Michael Wilding, released the following statement: 

"We will always be inspired by her enduring contribution to our world."

Elizabeth Taylor was a movie star, two-time Oscar winner, and a business woman, but most importantly, she was a fierce warrior in the fight against AIDS.  She stood up and was counted long before it was acceptable for a public figure, and she never let up.  There will never be another Dame like her.      

Was I Too Quick to Ridicule Lindsay?

Sady Doyle has a fascinating Salon post on our obsession with celebrity scandal and our limited tolerance for female trouble vs. male trouble.  Excerpt:

"Still, when you compare the sins of Mel Gibson (racism, threats of violence and rape, sexism, allegedly punching his girlfriend while she held their child) to the crimes of Lindsay Lohan (doing drugs, drunk driving, being generally unprofessional) it seems clear that one of them has had to work a bit harder to become infamous."

Certainly bad boys can get away with more than bad girls and keep their careers going (Robert Downey Jr., anyone?), and Mel is getting plenty of deservedly harsh criticism for being a gigantic, gaping asshole.  It'll be interesting to see if he recovers and does Passion II,Tokyo Drift or whatever. 

Mel is ugly and disgusting and needs to go away permanently while Lindsay is tiresome, shallow, and self-centered but she could still grow up and overcome her incredibly stupid life choices.  She's very young and frankly, sheltered while Mel is an old man who has had a half-century to learn some life lessons.

I was certainly disgusted when Hollywood rallied around Mel after his anti-semitic,misogynistic outburst during  his drunk driving arrest a few years ago, not to mention his homophobic rants of the 90s.  His career should have been over long ago.  I haven't bought a ticket to one of his movies since that one with Tina Turner.  You can forgive me for that.  I will never buy another.  If Lindsey bounces back and her Linda Lovelace biopic lives up to its potential (and what a great story that could be), I wouldn't mind seeing it. I don't dislike her, I'm just bored by her. 

Doyle points out that convicted rapist Mike Tyson was on stage at the Golden Globes when The Hangover won Best Whatever.  She goes on:

 "The stories of badly behaved women, on the other hand, tend to end in obscurity or early death. The most a girl who's made some unfortunate choices can hope for, it would seem, is to become a joke, along the lines of Elizabeth Taylor."

Elizabeth Taylor is no joke in my book.  Her AIDS work has earned her a place with the angels and her two Oscars earned her all the Hollywood cred anyone could hope for.  She never did anything that could compare to Lindsay's drug abuse and law breaking.  I think Sady needs a better analogy.  Interesting article though.  Worth a read.