Monday, May 13, 2013

Maybe If I Speak Slower…

It's that time again. Time for another injection of ATG's patented truth serum.

But before I break out the syringe, let me first say that, after seeing more recent pictures of her, I’m almost ready to concede that Kate Middleton may in fact be pregnant, which means that, yes, the Deficient Duchess was born under the luckiest star imaginable.

This is a girl, a rather plain one if we’re being honest (and we’re ALWAYS honest here at ATG), who snagged a prince and the limitless adoration of an entire universe without doing one actual thing to earn it. This is a woman whose laziness and unwillingness to work has been documented for years (and, really, her job consists of planting trees and smiling, how hard is that?) yet she’s hailed as a role model for young girls. This is a girl who asks questions like, Can you test the smell (of tea) by smelling it? but is simultaneously held up as the ideal of perfection.

Why?

Because she’s skinny, smiles a lot, says very little (which is probably a direct result of the whole tea-smelling incident), wears (ugly) clothes well, and has shiny hair, which she appears to hot-roller into big, bouncy curls. Listen, I’m not judging her hairstyle choices. I’ve also been known to hot-roller my hair into big, bouncy curls. Of course, I was in eighth grade.

 I feel like I've seen this pattern before. Oh, yeah. On my grandma's couch. 

But you already know all of this, so there’s really no need to go over it all again.

Let’s instead focus on some more recent news. One of the latest rumors to come flying out of the mill is that, after the alleged baby is born, the Deficient Duchess won’t be staying in the wing of the palace that she and her husband are renovating with $1.5 million of their own hard-earned money. Oh, wait, hold on. My mistake. Someone worked hard for that money but it definitely wasn’t the Loathsome Twosome.

But it doesn't matter who's paying for the renovations because our fair Kate won’t be gracing the halls of Kensington Palace anytime soon. She will instead be staying with…

I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.

Meddling Ma Middleton, of course!

Who better to raise the future queen (or king) of England than a(n alleged) scheming social-climber? That’s great. The heir still can’t marry a Catholic for fear of what it would do to the monarchy, but pushy, calculating in-laws? No problem!

Some people are understandably annoyed with this latest revelation, lamenting that if royals are just going to act like everyone else, what’s the point of having them. This logical argument has been met with some disagreement, the main dissenting opinion being that every new mother should be allowed to take her baby home to mom for the first few weeks. I almost agree. But does every new mother live in a palace? Does every new mother get to live off the taxpayers’ hard-earned money? Is every new mother married to a prince?

Uh, no.

This is the point I’ve been trying to make from the beginning. She’s not normal. She’s not like you and me. Sure, under normal circumstances there’s no problem with a young woman foregoing a job so that she can stay home and take care of her husband/family, or choosing to spend holidays solely with her family as opposed to his, or going to live with her mom for six weeks after birthing her baby. Nothing wrong with that at all. The difference is, KATE’S NOT NORMAL. She didn’t want to be normal. She (and her mom) went to great lengths to make sure that she ended up with an abnormally royal life. Yes, it carries with it some responsibilities, but it also comes with plenty of perks.

The way I see it, Kate needs to pick a side: either be a princess and enjoy all the perks that come with it, as well as some of the less pleasant aspects, or become “every woman” and stop nursing off the public’s teat.

It doesn’t make any difference to me which side you choose, Kate, but just like Benedict Arnold, you’re going to have to pick a side.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Go With Your Gut

Remember when you were about to take a test in school and your teacher would tell you to go with your gut when you answered the questions, that your first instinct was probably right? Well, last week, the always-with-their-finger-on-the-pulse-of-reality magazine, People pretty much proved this point by bestowing its most coveted honor – the World’s Most Beautiful Woman title – on the GOOPist herself, Gwyneth Paltrow.

Apparently People’s world is very small. Not so surprising, actually, considering their entire existence revolves around the world of fake breasts, teeth, hair, and talent. 

  The World's Most Beautiful Woman. No, seriously. People decreed it so it must be true.   
 
So, what does this have to do with taking a test? Well, although People may think that the GOOPster is the world’s most beautiful woman, the publishing world’s first reaction – its gut feeling, if you will – was to name her the most hated person in America, with Star magazine bestowing this honor on her just a few weeks earlier.

Obviously one can be both beautiful and hate-inducing; these are not mutually exclusive traits. But Gwynnie would have to be absolutely stunning on the outside to make up for her complete lack of stunningness on the inside. Some people obviously think she’s succeeded in this endeavor. I don’t agree.

This is a woman who claims to represent every woman, but then does stuff like choosing a woman’s must-have wardrobe for the season which, when all the pieces are added up, comes to over $20,000. I’m fairly certain that “every woman” doesn’t get an annual clothes budget of $20K. In fact, I’d venture a guess that Gwyneth spends on clothes what most women make in a year – if they’re lucky.

This is also a woman who designed a COTTON T-SHIRT that she sells for $90, a t-shirt, by the way, that only comes in one size and is guaranteed to fit sizes 0-8. I’m pretty sure a woman who wears a size 8 is built slightly differently than one who wears a 0. AND, what kind of elitist shirt is this? Apparently to be “every woman” you can't be any bigger than an 8. Any bigger than that and you cease to matter. Not so surprising considering the GOOPest was raised in Plasticville, amongst the plastics. In her world, if you don’t like the body God gave you, you buy a new one.  

So, are you sold on her beauty yet? How about her dislikability?

And in case you just can’t get enough of the hate and are wondering who rounded out the top 20 Most Hated, wonder no more:

20. Chris Brown: Admitted girlfriend-beater. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

19. Jesse James a.k.a. Mr. Sandra Bullock: Broke the heart of America's Sweetheart by cheating on her with a Nazi-loving tattooholic. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

18. Taylor Swift: Sings irritating songs in an irritating voice and makes increasingly bad relationship choices...which she then writes irritating songs about that she sings in an irritating voice. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

17. Shia LaBeouf: I don't really get this one. Is he even still around?

16. Lindsay Lohan: A drunken has-been who can't seem to stay out of bars...or court. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

15. Angelina Jolie: See #17.

14. Jay Leno: Has a really huge chin and next to no ability to make me laugh. Oh, yeah, and he pretty much screwed Conan O'Brien out of a job. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

13. Ashton Kutcher: Loud, obnoxious adulterer; produces crap like Beauty and the Geek. Still less hated than Gwyneth (although more hated than Taylor Swift, which I don't really understand).

12. LeAnn Rimes: Word-vomiting, man-stealing Twitteraholic. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

11. Kris Jenner: Spawned the Kardashians. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

10. Kim Kardashian: Self-adoring, completely overrated narcissist who allows herself to be peed on. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

9. Anne Hathaway: See #10 (minus the peeing part). Still less hated than Gwyneth.

8. Justin Bieber: Foolish, foolish immature man-child who can't go five minutes without saying something royally stupid. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

7. Madonna: Self-adoring, faux-English-accent-using (hello, she's from Michigan!), completely overrated narcissist with no self-respect. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

6. Matt Lauer: Two words: Benedict Arnold. Totally threw my beloved Ann Curry under the bus, resulting in her losing her job. And, again, a totally overrated narcissist (I'm seeing a pattern here...). Still less hated than Gwyneth.

5. Katherine Heigl: Subpar actress with a resume full of nearly unwatchable flops. Also a self-adoring, overrated...well, you get the drift. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

4. John Mayer: Please, does this one even require explanation? Still less hated than Gwyneth.

3. Jennifer Lopez: Adulteress with an ego even bigger than her ass. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

2. Kristen Stewart: Subpar actress with no fashion sense, a broken moral compass, and a perma-look of constipation on her face. Still less hated than Gwyneth.

And, of course...

1. Gwyneth Paltrow: The Most Hated Person in America

You may notice that a lot of these people are characters that we’ve previously blogged about hating.

Apparently ATG is more with it than People.

But, then, you probably already knew that.