Wednesday, January 18, 2012

When Is A New Yorker Profile Of Callista Gingrich Not Really A Profile Of Callista Gingrich?

It is, of course, a trick question. Don't get me wrong, Ariel Levy's feature on Newt 'n' Callista (or Cally Lou, as we are mortified to discover her family calls her) is entertaining and well written. I was excited when I first viewed it: 7 whole (internet) pages of Callista! Wow!

Here's the problem: it's bait and switch. Just a couple of pages in, the author, perhaps frustrated with Goddess Callista's inner boringness, turns what first promised to be a Callista Festival into... a boring retelling of Newt's career and previous marriages. And she never gets back to Callista! She just drops her!

There are some new, tiny tidbits, sure, but what a letdown! Favorite part: a fan brings up the specter of hair dye, and Callista, not pleased, quickly changes the subject to Ellis the Elephant.

At least Jorge ArĂ©valo's mean,  Risko-esque caricature is a winner.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Best line: "One woman in her seventies told me that she was voting for Romney but had driven forty minutes to see Callista Gingrich: “I want to know how she gets her hair to stay like that.”"

Anonymous said...

O, would that the New Yorker had plopped into my mailbox today! Perhaps anon... perhaps the morrow? I burn with anticipation! Would that I were Callista's can of Industrial Strength Aqua Net, that I could rain upon that hair.

Glennis said...

Oooh, that issue just landed in my mailbox this afternoon!

Anonymous said...

-hmm, food for thought at:
http://jonathanturley.org/2012/01/18/martians-attack-morocco/

Jay S. observes-
I hope you also have seen the movie “Mars Attacks.” Ginrich’s wife Callista seems to have a role in this flick. (OK, I know, she isn’t really, but that “Martian” woman sure looks like her!)

Johannes d.T. said...

I thought the same thing: the profile was really about Newton. Bait and switc -- or, really, "Have you met Ellis the Elephant?"

Even more egregious journalism: no reference to PSP!