“Paris, Not France” Reveals Still More of Paris Hilton
Oh, my eyes! My eyes! Have we not suffered enough under the media tonnage produced every time Paris Hilton leaves—or doesn’t leave—the house? Have we not heard enough from the woman who claimed she was doing her part to stimulate the economy by doing a lot of shopping, including buying a diamond-encrusted dress, in AUSTRALIA?
"I'm Just A Victim of the Media. I Don't Ask for Attention."
Evidently not, if you ask Adria Petty, daughter of Tom Petty (and, apparently, victim of some THC-infused DNA), who directed a 68-minute movie that lets us see much more deeply into the petri –dish-depth of the heiress’s life. 68 minutes filmed along the same line as “Madonna: Truth or Dare”, only less interesting and almost 20 years later.
The movie was first screened once at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival, although audiences seemed uninterested in attending. Paris tried to block the film from being shown, concerned that it would be an unfavorable portrayal of her. Considering that it was a “fly-on-the-wall” movie filmed while Paris was recording her album (a sentence that will haunt me for a lifetime), the only way it can really be a negative portrayal is if Paris herself is really just not that likeable. She eventually allowed the movie to be shown after one minute of material was cut.
Dare we even ask what that one minute of film might have held? Or was Paris just concerned about having her movie be forever known as having a running time of 69 minutes?
According to the official movie plot description, “’Paris, Not France’ provides an intimate and provocative look at the world’s first new media star…the film explores the business of being Paris Hilton, and the human being that lies beneath the public persona.” For so long, poor Paris has been trying to—ahem—get out from underneath the notoriety of her sex tape. She went about this as only she could: by wearing tiny clothes to events, dating everyone with a pulse, forgetting to put on undies before she climbed in or out of her car, and writhing pornographically in a bathing suit in an advertisement for…hamburgers.
In the film, Paris laments the way the media has, um, dogged her since the tape was revealed, saying that, “the whole [expletive deleted] world is looking at you and laughing at you”. Yes. That’s what happens when you let someone videotape you during a “private act”. On the other hand, no one knew who she was before the release of “One Night in Paris”. It also worked for Kim Kardashian. In a way, Paris should be proud for creating a whole new genre for the film industry to explore. It would also be nice to have someone to blame for the Tonya Harding sex tape, the Joanie Laurer (formerly WWF wrestler Chyna) sex tape, etc. I mean, ew.
Paris claims that she is a victim of the media, and that it is because of media attention that she is unable to fulfill her dream of being like Princess Diana. Yes, Paris. That, and saving thousands of African children through her charity work.
“Paris, Not France” does give us a chance to see the life of the heiress through her family and friends. Also making appearances in the documentary are her parents, Rick and Kathy Hilton, sister Nicky, Donald Trump, Camilla Paglia (really, Camille?), Benji and Joel Madden, Nicole Ritchie, and agent Elliot Mintz. I guess Spencer Pratt was busy that day.
Evidently, even after bombing at Cannes and Toronto, “Paris, Not France” is attractive enough that MTV bought the rights to it and plans to air it sometime this summer. That works out great for Paris, who is already promoting season 3 of “My New BFF”, after, apparently, being unable to hold onto either of the crazed-fans-turned-reality-tv-show-contestants in seasons 1 and 2 in the US, or to her British BFF. In 2009, she plans to look for a BFF in Dubai.
Either Paris has no faith in her ability to choose friends who compete for her attention, or she is a total media whore. I’m just sayin’.