There are always a few people who are able to get laughs by defying convention. Joan Rivers, who passed away today, was one of them. She said outrageous things, a master of the politically incorrect and sometimes rude. It was her trademark. She insulted people who were not used to being insulted.
Do you remember when she used to make fun of Elizabeth Taylor for being fat? For the rest of the entertainment industry, Taylor was an aging movie queen who had survived various illnesses and was above criticism. For Rivers, Taylor was a "fat broad". I remember on skit on SNL where Rivers got dressed up as Taylor in a designer jeans commercial. The punch line was that Taylor's jeans were not small, medium or large; the were "industrial strength". It was nasty, but it was hysterical. More than that, however, it was vintage Joan Rivers.
For the last decade or so, Rivers has made her mark principally by selling her jewelry line and by commenting on the clothes worn by celebrities on the red carpet. Joan had the ability to skewer a star's outfit in twenty words or less. No one in Hollywood wanted to be on the receiving end of one of those slashing remarks.
In truth, it may be that perhaps the best way for someone to honor River's memory would be to rate the clothes worn to her funeral. It would be bizarre and macabre. But if Joan were still here, she would love it.
Joan Rivers will be missed. After all, there are not enough people in the world who are prepared to say what they actually think.
Do you remember when she used to make fun of Elizabeth Taylor for being fat? For the rest of the entertainment industry, Taylor was an aging movie queen who had survived various illnesses and was above criticism. For Rivers, Taylor was a "fat broad". I remember on skit on SNL where Rivers got dressed up as Taylor in a designer jeans commercial. The punch line was that Taylor's jeans were not small, medium or large; the were "industrial strength". It was nasty, but it was hysterical. More than that, however, it was vintage Joan Rivers.
For the last decade or so, Rivers has made her mark principally by selling her jewelry line and by commenting on the clothes worn by celebrities on the red carpet. Joan had the ability to skewer a star's outfit in twenty words or less. No one in Hollywood wanted to be on the receiving end of one of those slashing remarks.
In truth, it may be that perhaps the best way for someone to honor River's memory would be to rate the clothes worn to her funeral. It would be bizarre and macabre. But if Joan were still here, she would love it.
Joan Rivers will be missed. After all, there are not enough people in the world who are prepared to say what they actually think.
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