About this Blog

"In the future everybody will be world-famous for 15 minutes." So said the bleached-out, late lamented artist Andy Warhol. Having lived and worked in New York City, Warhol came to fully grasp the hold celebrity has on us. In this very famous sentence, he meant to point out that in a culture fixated on fame, many people will suddenly flash brightly onto the public screen, then--poof--will just as quickly disappear from public view--like shooting stars. Other individuals derive their celebrity from one stellar accomplishment (one hit song, one iconic role, etc.) that they never again match.

This blog is devoted to the one part of our celebrity culture that no one has written much about: temporary/one-shot celebrities.

The pace of modern life has quickened, and now we hear people speaking of someone's 15 seconds of fame. These "celebrities with a lower-case c" who will appear in this blog sometimes come to us from the world of entertainment, sometimes from the world of news. All are fascinating.

The need of our communications media for a continual stream of new material assures that we will have no end of colorful people who go quickly, where celebrity is concerned, from zero to hero (or villain) and back to zero. Now you see 'em, now you don't. What a crazy world, eh?

Temporary celebrities coming from the world of entertainment include one-hit recording artists; TV and movie icons who, although they might have had a great many accomplishments in their career, are remembered for one big role; standouts of reality TV; sports figures remembered for one remarkable accomplishment; and people whose celebrity came from one big role in a commercial or print ad.

News-based temporary celebrities come in many forms: mass/serial killers, other murderers of special note, sex-crime offenders, disgraced figures of government/military/business/media/religion, spies/traitors, hoaxers, femmes/hommes fatale, heroes, whistle blowers, inventors/innovators, and victims.

Celebrity Blogsburg will consider each category in turn.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Victim Marla Hanson

Beautiful 24-year-old model Marla Hanson was attacked and slashed by two thugs wielding single-edge razor blades in June 1986.

She had spurned the advances of her New York City landlord, who hired the two men to attack her and teach her a lesson. The "lesson" required 150 stitches in her face.

The two attackers and the landlord were convicted and put away on assault charges, but Hanson's second trauma came at the hands of opposing counsel who pictured her as a man-hungry slut. Also, she was depicted as racist, inasmuch as the two slashers were black. She reported that this attack in court seemed even worse than the slashing.

Hanson recovered, remained beautiful, but suffered severe depression. She has since spoken on the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

After the attacks, she returned to college and earned a degree in film and television studies. She married, now has a family, and has become a screenwriter.

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