People who follow me on Twitter will know that I joined in the fun having a laugh at the expense of Samantha Brick, the woman who wrote an article explaining how she used her gourgeous level of shaggability to get men to do her bidding. She paraded how much stuff this strategy had got for her. But she also conceded that the downside was that her less attractive female friends hated her out of jealousy for her good looks. The photos illustrating the article revealed her to be maybe not quite the stunning beauty her article suggested.
I hope nothing I said about her was too unkind, but I have to confess that I enjoyed the sense of superiority over someone who seemed to have a rather inflated view of her own self worth. I am not so sure I was right to do so now I have had some time to think about it, and also seen other pictures of Ms Brick. It turns out that while she probably isn’t eye catching enough to actually stop traffic, she did look a lot better than whoever edited the original Mail article wanted us to believe. And I don’t think it was in any way an accident.
So basically I was suckered by the Mail. I reacted in exactly the way the paper intended me to. And it looks like the Mail and presumably the manipulative Ms Brick will have cash in the bank to prove that they were the clever ones. Oh well, we all get taken for a ride sometimes. And if I had thought of putting loads of pictures of female celebrities not wearing many clothes down the side of my blog I might actually make as much money as the Mail does. The only thing that bothers me a bit is that Samatha Brick is a freelancer. I hope she was in on the deal and that she too knew what the game was. If it was the case that she genuinely thought she was writing an article that was contributing something and didn’t know how the Mail was planning to deploy it then I wouldn’t be so philosophical. I am not a big fan of the Mail to begin with, but I hope even they wouldn’t be that evil.
But what can we learn from all this? First off, some of the comments on-line about Samantha Brick were pretty unkind. It is fun at that time but I don’t think mocking the appearance of fellow human beings is a route to long term happiness. Also it is worth double checking who the mug actually is when you are having a laugh at someone else’s expense. And most of all, always remember that the last thing you should trust is the main stream media.
It’s an interesting topic really, I have to admit my first thoughts on reading the article were OMG she isn’t ugly, she isn’t beautiful, she’s decidedly ordinary. And whilst I din’t think anything terribly unkind about her looks, I did think terribly unkind things about her personality. And then I remembered this. http://nosleeptilbrooklands.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/true-story-of-daily-mail-lies-guest.html
So then I remember what the Daily Mail is all about and forget about it.
Thanks for that link Charlie, it does put things in perspective a bit doesn’t it.
She did appear on TV though, and looked decidedly ordinary. I find it extraordinary that men fall for her charms. She must have a huge ego
Yes, I read the “article”, if that’s what you call anything printed by the Mail (and a fair few other Brit publications). No, I didn’t get into the Let’s Bash Some Woman I Don’t Know From Adam party on Twitter. I don’t do cyber-dissing. Is that a word? 😉
And yes, I think she was in on it. She’s got a book to flog doesn’t she. Hell, she’s probably got more than a few extra book sales out of her 24 hours of fame. I say good luck to her.
Good point Ali, and I think cyberdissing should become a word. There is clearly a need for it. (The word that is, not the activity.)
I was willing to accept that Ms Brick was the victim of Daily Mail misogny and had been a fairly naive person who got stitched up. Until I saw her on ITV’s This Morning on Thursday. While she wasn’t the slickest of interviewees she seemed self aware enough to know the context in which she was being reported and in particular she iterated more than once a view that women naturally are competitive and can’t see beyond sexual jealousy to bond as friends.
This worldview is completely alien to most people I know that its difficult to do anything more than recoil in disgust. However in the shitstorm Samantha Brick has got an effect that she seems pretty pleased with with spots on network TV here and in the US. I predict a future in reality TV and the pages of celebrity magazines so good luck to her.
Have no interest in Samantha Brick (don’t know who she is, I am English but live in the USA, I gather all this stuff about her is in the UK press) but I do want to tell you I LOVE YOUR BLOG!
I have wanted to actually get to speak with a cosmetic chemist for several years, and while I can’t actually speak with you, your blog is the next best thing. I am an esthetician, and don’t tell my clients but here in the USA we don’t actually learn all that much in school.
Well, what we learn can seem like a lot to someone who knows nothing about the skin and product ingredients, but it wasn’t/isn’t enough for me. I have learned SO much more teaching myself over the last few years than I learned in school, but I have never had any first hand information from a cosmetic chemist.
You say things in a way I can understand. A lot of the more serious medical sites, well, I don’t think I am a doofus but they are so technical and much of the language and terminology used sounds like another language to me. Your blog is intelligent but readable. I don’t quite “get” the stuff about how treacle makes frosted glass transparent 🙂 but everything else makes perfect sense to me.
THANK YOU for this blog, honestly, a big thank you, it is going to be a huge resource for me. I will be checking in regularly.