"Mommy, It's Not Right!"

"Mommy, It's Not Right!" The Unfair Treatment of Paris Hilton

By Gary Leupp

Created Jun 9 2007 - 7:57pm

June 8. I'm in the midst of a column about the planned U.S. attack on Iran,

but I have to interrupt that project to comment on the breaking news about

Paris Hilton.

"It's not right!" she shouted to the judge ordering her back to the jail

she'd been freed from a day earlier, before she was hauled away weeping.

No, nothing about this is right.

Here's a young woman who came into our lives in August 2003, just as the

mainstream press was timidly beginning to question the Bush administration

lies justifying the invasion of Iraq. There were no weapons of mass

destruction in Iraq, and the people were already rebelling against the

occupation. In that context of uncertainty, Paris burst onto the scene, a

rich heiress socialite party girl, in our faces on the internet, spreading

for boyfriend Rick Salomon and pleasuring him orally. Relatively few saw the

clip of course, but we all heard about it, and associated this emerging

personality with internet porn.

It was perhaps unfair because there is so much more to Paris.

While stating she was "humiliated" by Rick's posting of the video, Paris

accepted the situation with good humor, joking about it on TV as she went on

to pursue her career as model, actress, singer, heiress and socialite.

She wasn't just fellating Rick but all of us, when America needed it most.

Those accessing the readily available footage will notice her pubes were

shaved. Were they only shaved for Rick, whom she soon discarded? No, I

believe they were shaved for all of us, representing childlike innocence

lost. A pudendum shining hairless for you, and for me, as the nation

descended deeper and deeper into darkness.

Already 22, Paris had dropped out of the prestigious Dwight School in the

Upper West Side of New York unfairly hounded by the accusation that "Dwight"

stood for "Drunk White Idiots Getting High Together." But she had acquired

her General Education Degree (GED), serving as a role model for other

dropouts who have the courage and fortitude to also take the challenging GED

exam.

Just as the porn video came out Paris launched a career playing herself in a

reality television series about socialites in real-world situations airing

on the prestigious Fox network. In that series, she walked through cow

manure in stilettos, made sausages, worked as a maid at a nudist resort. She

became a Donald Trump model. She appeared in minor roles in films and

released an album, Paris, on her very own label, Heiress Records, which

might some day release a second album by her or someone else.

In May 2004 Paris released her "Paris Hilton" perfume. "I mixed all these

scents together...it smells so good," she explained as she continued to

enrich our culture. It is true that her appearance on Saturday Night Life in

2005 (in which she hyped the video with Rick) was panned by some persnickety

critics, and Tina Fey later nastily called her a "piece of shit" and

"unbelievably dumb." But she had unleashed a chain of nightclubs, and there

were more nude photos of her on the net. So it made prefect sense for Las

Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman to proclaim August 29, 2006 "Paris Hilton Day."

On that day in 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run began. On that day in

1966, the Beatles performed their last public concert. On that day in 1944,

American troops liberated Paris. Surely Goodman had these historical events

in mind as he honored our Paris.

It is sad that on September 7, 2006, at the height of her powers, Paris was

pulled over by a member of the notorious LAPD on suspicion of drunken

driving. Her blood alcohol content was just 0.08%. Taking advantage of her

low tolerance level for alcohol, and lack of experience driving responsibly

after a few beers, the officer arrested Paris. The court suspended her

driver's license and she received a 36 month probabtion sentence plus a

$1,500 fine. She was ordered to attend an alcohol-education program but

apparently didn't. This is understandable. It was probably an AA program

with a "higher power" religious content and the requirement that everybody

hold hands. I can see why Paris would reject that.

Unbowed by this setback, Paris continued to drive through the streets of Los

Angeles and on January 15 was pulled over for driving with a suspended

license. She signed a document acknowledging that she wasn't permitted to

drive, but didn't let the Man cramp her style. On February 27 was pulled

over for driving without her lights on 70 miles per hour in a 35 mile per

hour zone. LA prosecutors threw the book at her, finding her in violation of

the terms of her probation.

But Paris's many admirors campaigned for her freedom of any punishment,

posting the following petition online addressed to California Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Paris Whitney Hilton is an American celebrity and socialite. She is an

heiress to a share of the Hilton Hotel fortune, as well as to the real

estate fortune of her father Richard Hilton. She provides hope for young

people all over the U.S. and the world. She provides beauty and excitement

to (most of) our otherwise mundane lives.

Hilton is notable for her leading roles on the FOX reality series The Simple

Life and in the remake of the Vincent Price horror classic "House of Wax."

In addition to her work as an actress, she has achieved some recognition as

a model, celebrity spokesperson, singer, and writer.

Now, if that doesn't move you, you're just not human. But on May 4, a cruel

and biased Judge Michael T. Sauer sentenced Paris to 45 days in jail on this

dubious charge of violating her probation.

The day after she appeared on the MTV awards, Paris dutifully reported to

the Century Regional Detention Center where she was given a private cell so

she would not be sexually abused by any ugly people. She has since thanked

the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and staff of for treating" her

"fairly and professionally." But confinement was too much for this sensitive

young woman, whom a psychologist ascertained, was on the verge of a nervous

breakdown within five days of confinement. Accordingly the Detention Center

authorities released her, ordering her to serve the remaining 40 days of her

sentence under house arrest at her home on Kings Road in Hollywood Hills.

But then, the hate. The pettiness. The unfairness.

The Rev. Al Sharpton denounced the early release, claiming it had "all of

the appearances of economic and racial favoritism." Obviously he had it out

for Paris, just because her former friend Brandon Davis told the press that

the heiress regularly refers to black people using the n-word. Given

protests about the reduced sentence, Sauer ordered Paris back to jail. He

gave no explanation at all for his ruling! But obviously powerful and

influential people were behind this decision.

Outside the courtroom, Jake Byrd of Chino spoke for the millions whose lives

have been touched by this woman who once told the British press "There's

nobody in the world like me. I think every decade has an iconic

blonde---like Marilyn Monroe or Princess Diana--- and right now, I'm that

icon."

"No! No! No!" Jake screamed as a court spokesman announced the verdict.

Oh, the horror of this. What sort of person, looking at that photo of Paris,

hand-cuffed and humiliated, sitting in the back seat of a police car,

disheveled, without her make-up, her lovely features contorted with

suffering, tears streaming down her face, would not be moved by the

injustice pervading our society?

What will become of this candle in the wind?

I for one will be unable during these next 40 days to think of Guantanamo or

Abu Ghraib without thinking too of Paris in the Detention Center. It's just

not right.

_______

--

NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not

always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material

available to advance understanding of

political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I

believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as

provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright

Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107

"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their

spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their

government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are

suffering deeply in spirit,

and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public

debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have

patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning

back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at

stake."

-Thomas Jefferson