We Interrupt this Program ...

We interrupt this program, not to mention my sleep last night, to let you know: Katie Holmes has a new hairdo. Did you know? This was front page news yesterday (& again this morning) on MSN and Yahoo home pages, complete with photo. And this is news (& front-page-worthy at that) ... why? Given, I dunno, such trivialities as global warming, American GI's suffering in Iraq, genocide in Africa, an increase of HIV in US youth, missing children, domestic violence, breast cancer statistics, and women still disappearing and dying in Juarez?
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Ok. Let me give this a shot. Let me start over.
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Hey! Katie Holmes got a new hairdo, didya know? I'm so glad this made it to the news, because, well ...

1. It really does provide comic relief between reading articles of train collisions, hostage situations and Evel Knievel's death.

And, I have to say, I like it. I do.

2. It's kind of Goth Glam, or even Sophisticated Severe, which really fits her as a woman married to such a fiercely good actor who unfortunately also has (forgive me) the face of a rodent and an overly active yap.

And ultimately, it's a refreshing feature because ... because ... that is, uh ...

um ... well, it's a refreshing feature because, for a change,

3. It isn't Britney Spears.
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I can't do this anymore. I went there, I just don't want to stay. Or go back.

Katie Holmes! I mean, here's a girl who jaunted to Paris and spent $5,000 (or some such) in 30 minutes on 6 pair (or some such) of shoes, one in every color. This incident was also front page reportage, some time ago, but I still haven't gotten over it. I can't get my mental warm-&-fuzzies around such excessive frivolity.

Then again, Kimora Lee Simmons makes Katie's haircut and shoe-shopping sprees take on quite the girl-next-door quality.
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Is any of it even REAL? I'll certainly never be sure.

Here is what I AM sure of: I don't know either of these women, except as presented in various media genres. Some big loopy part of me continues to cling to the hope that it's all a media creation: "celebrity caricatures to entertain certain of the masses".

Because if I can't have faith in the belief that there is actually genuine substance in these women, underneath hairdos and foot parades and 'The Fab Life', then I could seriously go wrestle a hungry grizzly bear RIGHT NOW and whoop its furry heinie.
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When women are going to be front and center in global media coverage, give me Mariane Pearl and Christine Amanpour and Lydia Cacho ANY DAY!!!