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Now We All Walk the Red Carpet, 24/7

Internet means you can't control fame

By Drew Nelles, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 11, 2009 6:17 PM CST

(Newser) – Calling all celebs on the red carpet tonight: No one cares about your work! In our society, it's all about the gawking, Robin Givhan writes in the Washington Post. Our cleavage and style-gaffe lust goes far beyond the Golden Globes, too. It's driven by YouTube, Facebook, paparazzi, and any sorry sucker—or skier—who gets snapped in an awkward pose. "We have all become celebrities of a sort," Givhan writes.

Worst of all are publicists devoted to promoting brands sported by unwittingly-famous children, from Suri Cruise to Sasha Obama. Then there are those who court attention but can’t spin it right, like Roland Burris in his rain-soaked appearance on Capitol Hill. He should have hired a stylist, writes Givhan: “The first rule in image management, after all, is: Whatever happens, never let them catch you with your pants down."

[Images (5)]

[Quotes (2)]

Katie Holmes and her daughter Suri Cruise watch the Los Angeles Galaxy play Chelsea. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Celebrities line the red carpet as they arrive for the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards in this Jan. 2007 file photo, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

U.S. actor Jim Carrey lays down on the red carpet as he arrives for the World Premiere of Yes Man at a central London cinema, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008. (AP Photo/Joel Ryan)

President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama get their daughters Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, ready for their first day of school in Washington. (AP Photo/Obama Transition Office, Callie Shell)

"One had the sense that Roland Burris...thought that his red-carpet moment on Capitol Hill on Tuesday was going to be a lot more glamorous," Robin Givhan writes. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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Life has been transformed into one endless red-carpet moment: a nonstop parade in which we twirl and pose, or bob and weave, and try to manage our personal image. And the truth is that no one can control it, not all the time. - Robin Givhan, The Washington Post

It may be that in this era of constant image manipulation, everyone should engage a stylist. They help make sure that every garment is flattering on camera so even those surreptitious cellphone shots aren't too embarrassing. - Robin Givhan

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Now We All Walk the Red Carpet, 24/7