‘No Bad Publicity’ For Paris Hilton
February 17, 2008
Paris Hilton is popularly identified as a socialite ‘famous for being famous’. Her list of achievements is long: she has been branded the world`s `Most Overrated Celebrity`, voted second `Worst Celebrity Role Model of 2006`, has posed nude – covered in gold paint - to promote "Rich Prosecco", a version of the Italian sparkling wine – and done many more things besides.
In spite of being the daughter of the founder of the Hilton hotel chain Conrad Hilton, (from his first wife Mary Barron) Paris decided to go off the beaten track. She decided to play out a continuous line of inane publicity tricks culminating in a sex video.
Her infamous sex video with the then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, is believed to be a part of the publicity campaign. She claimed that she never wanted it to be released. However it may be, it worked. Appearing a week prior to the premiere of ‘The Simple Life’, her own TV show, the video made Hilton a household name overnight.
In 2003 Paris bagged the title ‘Worst Dressed Celebrity’. After that there was no looking back. She began a remarkable and well-financed campaign to put herself in the public eye: on screen, on television and in music.
Physical Changes
Paris’ journey to fame has included a substantial amount of physical alteration. She has used tinted contact lens, hair coloring and undergone extensive plastic surgery in her attempt to reinvent herself as "hot". The one thing she has not been able to alter is her size 11 feet. The part of her she most dislikes, but sadly a problem that would not go away by throwing money at it.
Nevertheless, the efforts did pay off. Paris got some modeling work. Her presence on-screen also grew. She was seen in commercials, on TV series and in the movies. At first she only managed bit parts in movies like ‘Zoolander’, ‘Wonderland’ and ‘The Cat in the Hat’. Her presence on the TV, initially, was limited to guest appearance roles on shows such as `The OC` and `George Lopez`.
But later she was able to get more substantial roles; in movies like the ‘House of Wax’, the direct-to-DVD ‘Bottoms Up’. She also came up with her own TV show, the fish-out-of-water reality series ’The Simple Life’. She was also the subject of a ‘South Park’ episode entitled ‘Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset’, in which she is shown opening a store called ‘Stupid Spoiled Whore’.
Hilton seems to be fully convinced by the wise saying that there`s no such thing as bad publicity. She believes that it should be evident even to her critics that she – unlike many other socialites – is ambitious and determined to achieve something in her own right, rather than simply enjoying her family`s vast fortune. In fact, acting is only one of her many pursuits. She has also experimented with designing, writing, business, modeling, and music.
Hilton wants to become a player in the music business. She has recorded an album, and started her own music label, ‘Heiress Records’, to release it. Plus, she is working on a clothing line that she plans to name "That`s Hot".
"I don`t want to be known as the grand-daughter of the Hiltons. I want to be known as Paris". This comment sums up the erratic yet intriguing career of Paris Hilton. And if this is what she went out to achieve, she has succeeded.
