Biggles of 266
1st Level Red Feather
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2001
- Messages
- 1,126
- Points
- 36
The sweet smell of J.Lo's success stinks, writes Gabriel Wilder.
'Fresh. Sexy. Clean. Glow by J.Lo." These are the words that accompany a portrait of Jennifer Lopez in an ad for her perfume, now appearing in a glossy magazine or bus shelter near you. You can also add the words "naked", "wet" and "possibly delusional".
This is the same Lopez who trills in her current hit Jenny from the Block: "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got/I'm still Jenny from the block/Used to have a little, now I have a lot/No matter where I go, I know where I came from (from the Bronx!)."
The rocks, one imagines, are in her head. She sings without a trace of irony while the video cuts to paparazzi-style footage of "Jenny from the block" (JFTB) lounging on a hotel balcony, cavorting on a yacht with her boyfriend, Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Ben Affleck as well as some scenes of her singing outdoors wearing nothing but a fur coat and underpants.
JFTB also appears on the cover of the current edition of Harper's Bazaar. Nineteen pages later is a two-page ad for her perfume; 256 pages and sundry fashion spreads (one of which features a $9000 Fendi dress) later come eight pages of JFTB photographs (some with Affleck) and an interview. The article says, among other things, that JFTB no longer lives on the block; instead, she owns houses in LA and Miami and is renting a West Village apartment, while she shoots a film in New York.
"Her walk is somewhere between a waft and a sashay," the magazine says. Meanwhile, one imagines the real Jennies from the block (RJFTBs) are struggling to walk, let alone "waft", home from the supermarket with a bag of groceries in one arm and a kid (or two) in the other.
"She simmers with vulnerability ..." the story continues. Meanwhile, the RJFTBs, presumably, simmer with resentment at the idea of Lopez presenting herself as one of them.
As well as a lucrative recording deal, well-paid acting gigs and her own perfume, JFTB also has her own range of clothes. Perhaps if the RJFTBs can't get their hands on some rocks of the diamond variety or a Hollywood hunk, they can become a more authentic Jenny from the block by kitting themselves out in the Pikaboo mesh top, $US49 ($83) and J.Lo diamond jean (sic), $US59.
The gap between Lopez and those she has left behind in the Bronx could hardly be more overwhelming, yet the only person who seems oblivious to this is J.Lo herself. While she gushes over designer shoes and the $32,000 diamond bracelet Affleck bought her for her 32nd birthday, she is always at pains to tell everyone where she came from - Jenny from the Block being just the latest reminder.
Her first album was called On the 6 - a reference to the subway line that connects Manhattan and the Bronx, and on her last album she sang "I'm real/What you get is what you see".
But what do we see? A pretty, mildly talented woman making millions from her working-class roots while she lives the life of a superstar.
Perhaps more appropriate lyrics for Jenny from the Block could be: "I'm Jenny with the rocks and you're not/I've got a Hollywood boyfriend and he's hot/Used to have a little, now I got a lot/No matter where I go, I know where I came from (and I ain't never going back!)."
'Fresh. Sexy. Clean. Glow by J.Lo." These are the words that accompany a portrait of Jennifer Lopez in an ad for her perfume, now appearing in a glossy magazine or bus shelter near you. You can also add the words "naked", "wet" and "possibly delusional".
This is the same Lopez who trills in her current hit Jenny from the Block: "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got/I'm still Jenny from the block/Used to have a little, now I have a lot/No matter where I go, I know where I came from (from the Bronx!)."
The rocks, one imagines, are in her head. She sings without a trace of irony while the video cuts to paparazzi-style footage of "Jenny from the block" (JFTB) lounging on a hotel balcony, cavorting on a yacht with her boyfriend, Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Ben Affleck as well as some scenes of her singing outdoors wearing nothing but a fur coat and underpants.
JFTB also appears on the cover of the current edition of Harper's Bazaar. Nineteen pages later is a two-page ad for her perfume; 256 pages and sundry fashion spreads (one of which features a $9000 Fendi dress) later come eight pages of JFTB photographs (some with Affleck) and an interview. The article says, among other things, that JFTB no longer lives on the block; instead, she owns houses in LA and Miami and is renting a West Village apartment, while she shoots a film in New York.
"Her walk is somewhere between a waft and a sashay," the magazine says. Meanwhile, one imagines the real Jennies from the block (RJFTBs) are struggling to walk, let alone "waft", home from the supermarket with a bag of groceries in one arm and a kid (or two) in the other.
"She simmers with vulnerability ..." the story continues. Meanwhile, the RJFTBs, presumably, simmer with resentment at the idea of Lopez presenting herself as one of them.
As well as a lucrative recording deal, well-paid acting gigs and her own perfume, JFTB also has her own range of clothes. Perhaps if the RJFTBs can't get their hands on some rocks of the diamond variety or a Hollywood hunk, they can become a more authentic Jenny from the block by kitting themselves out in the Pikaboo mesh top, $US49 ($83) and J.Lo diamond jean (sic), $US59.
The gap between Lopez and those she has left behind in the Bronx could hardly be more overwhelming, yet the only person who seems oblivious to this is J.Lo herself. While she gushes over designer shoes and the $32,000 diamond bracelet Affleck bought her for her 32nd birthday, she is always at pains to tell everyone where she came from - Jenny from the Block being just the latest reminder.
Her first album was called On the 6 - a reference to the subway line that connects Manhattan and the Bronx, and on her last album she sang "I'm real/What you get is what you see".
But what do we see? A pretty, mildly talented woman making millions from her working-class roots while she lives the life of a superstar.
Perhaps more appropriate lyrics for Jenny from the Block could be: "I'm Jenny with the rocks and you're not/I've got a Hollywood boyfriend and he's hot/Used to have a little, now I got a lot/No matter where I go, I know where I came from (and I ain't never going back!)."
