Gwennie

I just finished watching Sliding Doors with Gwenyth Paltrow and John Hannah.  I adore John Hannah.  Not so much on the Gwenyth though.  (Is it me or does her "English accent" in Sliding Doors slip and drift between cockney and other regional inflections?) 

Interestingly, I really love some of Gwenyth's movies, I think it's just her personality that I don't care for.  And I'm not alone in this by a long shot. 

Nature abhors a vacuum, so the expression goes.  And now that Oprah has hung up her couch and headed for Boca Raton, I'm wondering what will fill that void in our collective lives.  I imagine there are lots and lots of folks scrabbling to take her place.  My great concern is that Ms. Paltrow will translate GOOP from blog to daytime talk show.  Ugh.

Though I never watched Oprah, I could easily tolerate the "water cooler" talk about the show.  I don't think I could stomach the same about Gwenyth.  Which is odd because the things I don't like about Oprah are exactly the same things I don't like about Gwenyth. 

That Oprah is quite self-important is an understatement (I have a whole theory about how people who believe themselves to be demigods pronounce their vowels--and Oprah is the original data that caused me to form my hypothesis.)  And I truly believe she means well with the charitable causes, her school building, even her lavish giveaways. 

Self-important?  Gwenyth has that in spades too.  To her credit, I believe Gwenyth also means well with her tone of speaking slowly and loudly (so to speak) so we commoners can understand the virtues she extols.  But it's the style with which she conveys her near infinite wisdom that bugs me.  It seems less genuine and down to Earth than Oprah.  Maybe it's because Oprah came from a family of sharecroppers and really knows what it is to be a regular American.  Paltrow was born Hollywood royalty.  I guess her advice for wonderful, purposeful, healthy living doesn't ring true to me. 

Or maybe I've got it all wrong.  Maybe it will be Charlie Sheen who steps in to the afternoon arena to enlighten and entertain us for the next 20 years. 

Or maybe America will quit watching TV.