The Streisand Effect – or People Who Don’t Need People
by Charles WinecoffI have a confession to make: when I’m alone in my car – or in iPod isolation – I sometimes listen to Barbra Streisand. And I’m neither a big fan of pop music nor of the current state of liberalism – the cushy, comfy, groupthink kind with which Streisand has become closely linked in recent years. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Whenever I’m feeling a little down, Streisand’s rousing, patriotic rendition of “Before the Parade Passes By” (from the Hello, Dolly! soundtrack) is the next best thing to shooting up a Diet Rockstar. The movie may be deadly, but that track is classic Barbra: starts out quiet, plaintive, then slowly builds to an almost militaristic crescendo of chorus, trumpets, beating drums – and Babs, screaming her head off above it all with a heroic, never-ending high note that sounds like a war cry.
I know - that’s so gay. But for me, the song is musical comfort food – and proof of the power of the human spirit: a rusty Main Street USA antique, shined up and brought back to life by a disadvantaged ugly duckling from Brooklyn, with a voice straight from God, who beat the odds. That’s when Streisand was still one of a kind.
But that was 1969. This is now. Today, “Before the Parade Passes By” would probably be called something like “Whenever the Trans-Cultural Community Gathering Happens to Reconvene.” And it would probably be sung by Sheryl Crow.
But I digress. In the massive Malibu mudslide of post-9/11 celebrity Bush-bashings and anti-war ravings, it’s easy to forget that one of La-La land’s first star bloggers, Barbra Streisand - who, to her credit, started out way back when as a JFK-era Democrat - was once a unique and groundbreaking entertainer. She was also an underdog. The little girl with the unapologetic schnoz (and the even bigger voice) smashed the 1950s WASPy standard of female beauty and clawed her way up from the gay clubs of Greenwich Village to star on Broadway and win every major show biz award, including two Oscars.
Streisand was the first unabashedly Jewish leading lady to play love scenes opposite superstar hunks like Robert Redford and Ryan O’Neal, and even Egyptian-born actor Omar Sharif. Her on-screen kiss with Sharif probably did more to provoke Arab-Israeli dialogue than any of Obama’s grand words. (”You think Cairo was upset?” she quipped when Funny Girl was released in 1968. “You should have seen the letter I got from my Aunt Rose!”)
Musically, Streisand was a true diva, who could turn an ordinary standard into a three-act mini-drama in itself – the pop equivalent of an operatic mad scene. Like Judy Garland and opera star Maria Callas – who both came from broken, dysfunctional homes – Streisand lost her birth father before she was two and endured a difficult relationship with her stepfather. She grew up feeling like she didn’t fit in, harboring a tiny seed of anger to combat overwhelming sadness. That kernel of rage eventually grew into an all-out, three-alarm fire in the belly, the kind that fuels many great performers.
From the start, I wasn’t so much into the sensitive, people-who-need-people Barbra as I was the show-stopping Godzilla who could obliterate her competition with one loud, elongated belt. No matter how much Sir Cecil Beaton adorned her, she was still a street fighter.
Streisand first stormed my consciousness during a network broadcast of Vincente Minnelli’s lavish but butchered On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970), an unlikely musical about past life regression (well before Shirley MacLaine got in on the act). Barbra’s exuberant closing rendition of the title song as she is superimposed against a vast, heavenly sky – all Dusty Springfield hand gestures, Arnold Scaasi couture, and vocal sonic blasts – blew me away. Nearly 40 years later, despite its bombast, the song has never been sung better.
As a lonely gay teenager, I was bolstered by her striking combination of emotion (feminine) and seeming invincibility (masculine). Streisand’s raw histrionics and police siren strength gave me hope that one day I’d be grown up too, living an independent life, free of shame. Perhaps that heightened duality is what qualifies performers like Streisand and Garland as “gay icons.” At the risk of sounding like a stereotype, her defiant voice helped me get through a lot of dark days.
Delving into Streisandiana, I soon discovered she was equally adept at bringing humanity to a range of non-singing roles. She went all “street” as an insecure prostitute in The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), turned on the coy quirks as an eccentric genius in Peter Bogdanovich’s What’s Up, Doc? (1972), and gave an atypical, understated performance as a neglected housewife with a rich fantasy life in the forgotten Up the Sandbox (also in ‘72).
While the last film remains something of a blur to me (I haven’t seen it since its first run), one particularly bizarre scene stands out. Barbra’s character is about to make love with Fidel Castro (don’t ask me the details) when, suddenly, the Cuban dictator removes his shirt to reveal a pair of female breasts. The significance? Anybody’s guess. But probably to show a softer side of the beloved tyrant. In another subplot, Streisand gets mixed up with some colorful Black Panther types who are planning to blow up the Statue of Liberty.
Those were the days when we could still joke about such things. Rebelling against the Hollywood jingoism of The Green Berets, long-haired studio execs were exploiting the counter-culture, turning it into slick, subversive propaganda for impressionable young Americans like me. By 1975, the post-Watergate, post-McGovern election loss, left-wing victim belief system was as much a part of the show biz establishment as the March of Time newsreels had once been. All my favorite stars – Streisand, MacLaine, Jane Fonda, Warren Beatty – seemed to drink Kool-aid from the same “Democrats good, Republicans bad” trough.
I’ll never forget, for example, seeing Shirley MacLaine’s wonderful one-woman show at the legendary Palace Theatre in New York (I think it was 1975). The lyrics of her opening number, “Remember Me,” were tailored to drum home her liberal martyrdom:
“In Washington, my name was on the enemies list!
Because I was a Democrat, they slapped my wrist!
The candidate we needed was The Excorcist! [big sh*t-eating smile]
Re-mem-ber me…”
As a clueless 15-year-old, dazzled by show biz razzmatazz, I assumed this sentiment signalled an enlightened path. MacLaine and Streisand both had campaigned for anti-Vietnam Presidential candidate George McGovern (I loved Barbra’s Live Concert at the Forum album – a fundraiser during which she proved her hipness by smoking a joint on stage between songs!). And wasn’t MacLaine a sophisticated world traveler who had been granted a glimpse of utopia on a much bally-hooed, ladies-only trip to Mao’s People’s Republic of China?
In her second memoir, We Can Get There from Here, MacLaine shared how her brief junket in totalitarian paradise made her take a good, hard look at her own egotistical, Western artistic needs. She described how, in China, she came to feel “a sense of strength, a common bond among these people, joined together in a common task. They were not producing junk to sell for profit in some second-rate department store. They were feeding China…. it slowly dawned on me… perhaps we were simply blank pages upon which our characters are written by parents, schools, churches, and the society itself.”
And perhaps by the guilt-alleviating delusions of spoiled actors and actresses? MacLaine, of course, went right back to the spotlight. And I kept on devouring her books (but lost interest by the time she became a mouthpiece for preachy space aliens and light beings).
(Both MacLaine and Streisand also campaigned for vaguely radical New York congresswoman Bella Abzug, whom Babs described as a “very special lady… dedicated to peace.” For the record, I’m here to say there was nothing “peaceful” about Abzug, who once stormed into my family’s apartment in the middle of the day, mistakenly thinking it was for rent. After imperiously casing the joint - without once making eye contact with any of us, the actual tenants (a.k.a. “the people”) – La Abzug marched out without even a perfunctory apology. It was more than a little frightening.)
Meanwhile, my favorite singing dark horse was changing, gradually drifting further and further away from my devoted commoner’s ear.
By 1975, when Streisand reprised her Oscar-winning role of Fanny Brice for Funny Lady, the dreary sequel to Funny Girl, rumors of divatude were becoming all too common. One item claimed that Barbra had ordered award-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond to allow her eight-year-old son to frame some of the shots. (Zsigmond was soon replaced by James Wong Howe.)
Around that time, I happened to meet respected stage and screen actress Estelle Parsons, one of Streisand’s costars in the comedy For Pete’s Sake. When I excitedly asked Parsons what Barbra was really like, she paused. Then she gently offered an anecdote about how, in the middle of shooting one of their scenes together, Streisand had abruptly announced she would deliver all her lines to actor Michael Sarrazin instead, essentially cutting Parsons out of the moment.
“You just don’t do that,” Parsons said nicely.
The Barbra Streisand-Kris Kristofferson rock-n-roll remake of A Star Is Born opened the following year, accompanied by a frenzy of bad publicity. Both New York and New West magazines published a scathing article by the film’s director, Frank Pierson, which detailed the exasperating experience of working with the now-legendary “perfectionist” and control freak. Even Kristofferson said, “Filming with Streisand is an experience which may have cured me of the movies.”
Critic Rex Reed called A Star Is Born ”stupid, cacophonous and unnecessary” and likened the faux rock songs to the sound of trash can lids being banged together. (At the screening I saw, a man sitting behind me, clearly dragged there by his wife, groaned loudly during one of Barbra’s most dramatic moments, “God, what a dog!”) Still, the movie pulled in nearly $100 million at the box office, and Streisand was rewarded with a second Oscar, for writing the Best Original Song, “Evergreen.”
I was glad for Barbra, but even at that young age I didn’t think “Evergreen” deserved any awards. The song was just another one-note Top 40 ballad, with no drama, no story. I missed the formula of Barbra’s old repertoire, the predictable-but-oh-so-satisfying rollercoaster rise and fall of her interpretations. But musical tastes were changing, and Streisand wasn’t about to let the parade pass her by.
Not even I could bring myself to see her next film, the tacky boxing comedy, The Main Event. But there was no escaping the horrendous disco theme song that was so beneath Babs’s talent. Suddenly, Barbra didn’t seem to be calling the shots anymore; she seemed to have given up and given in – pimping out her unique voice just to stay in the game.
It was over. I was done.
I didn’t go out of my way to see another Streisand film until The Prince of Tides (1991), which she both starred in and directed. Based on the novel by Pat Conroy, the non-musical drama about the relationship between a Manhattan psychiatrist (Babs) and a tormented Southerner (Nick Nolte) was pretty heavy stuff - except whenever Barbra’s legs and nails got in the frame. Pushing 50, Barbra seemed determined to prove to the world that she was still “hot.” And yes, she looked great.
But she had sacrificed an otherwise serious film in order to be ogled by, as Norma Desmond put it, those wonderful people out there in the dark. Was there no one advising this lady?
Looking back – i.e. her liner notes for the album Lazy Afternoon - Streisand seemed increasingly preoccupied with her personal feelings (as opposed to musical interpretations), her looks, and in particular her nails. By the mid-1990s, almost all traces of the resourceful underdog from Brooklyn had been lost under a golden patina of narcissistic New Age softness. During the making of Yentl, Streisand had been outspoken about reconnecting with her Jewish roots. How had that reawakening given way to this cautious wax figure?
Again, I felt let down. Someone who had once been a lifeline seemed to be disappearing before my eyes. Where was my old street fighter? While Judy Garland remained true to herself to the bitter end, a riveting mess – and the ghoulish “lost” recordings of Maria Callas, while harsh, continued to serve as phrasing blueprints for less-intelligent opera singers – Streisand’s vocalizing lost much of its spontaneity and intensity. It seemed the more she shared select intimacies about her “self,” the more untouchable and less compelling she became as an artist.
Did success spoil Barbra Streisand – or, like many Americans, was her focus forever changed by the attacks of September 11th, 2001?
Shortly after that dreadful day, the star began using her official website, www.barbrastreisand.com, to post her now-infamous “Truth Alerts” (”for clarifying significant errors in credible media so that such distortions do not become accepted as truth, as might be the case if they were unchallenged”) and to blog about current events (i.e. against fear-mongering conservatives mostly) – paving the way for the likes of Rosie O’Donnell and, more recently, Gwyneth Paltrow.
Here are some relatively benign samplings (taken out of context, yes, but characteristic nonetheless):
* “The fact that nearly every major news institution in this country is owned by a large corporation indicates that liberal media simply does not exist anymore.” Excuse me, Ms. Streisand, but have you watched CBS, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CNN or read the NYT lately?
* “The press does not criticize Republican actors Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Charlton Heston for expressing their strongly-held political opinions.” Excuse me, Ms. Streisand, but I never once heard anyone in the press do anything but call Reagan senile, Schwarzenegger stupid, and Heston a bigot.
* “Who is Sarah Palin?… I know she’s a beauty pageant runner-up who is a gun totin’ extremist in her views on the environment, religion, women’s choice and the separation of church and state.” Excuse me, Ms. Streisand, but please see response to first excerpt.
* “The idea of a liberal media bias is simply a myth. If only it were true, we might have a more humane, open-minded, and ultimately effective public debate on the issues facing the country.” Excuse me, Ms. Streisand, but the lack of humanity, the close-mindedness, and the increasingly lemming-like state of our populace isn’t all the fault of one channel (Fox News).
In addition to shilling for Dennis Kucinich’s impeach Cheney resolution, Barbra also offers the great uninformed (that’s you) links to some of her favorite even-handed websites such as the Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, Truthout.org, and the Center for American Progress. (Guess she blanked on Big Hollywood.)
In 2003, Babs was back in the headlines when she sued California environmentalist Kenneth Adelman for $50 million. His crime: taking an aerial photograph of her Malibu estate and posting it online – along with 11,999 other such shots - as part of the California Coastal Records Project documenting erosion.
Claiming the single photo jeopardized her privacy, the woman who established the Streisand Chair on Global Climatic Change at the Environmental Defense Fund – and who, according to Prince of Tides author Pat Conroy, “lives like Marie Antoinette” - achieved the exact opposite: more than 420,000 curious people clicked on the website for a glimpse of her mansion.
Backfiring of this magnitude became known as “The Streisand Effect.”
Then, in 2006, Barbra made news again during her umpteenth farewell tour. Between songs, the star indulged in a drawn-out Bush-bashing comedy skit featuring a ”W” impersonator (not Josh Brolin). (Note: two years earlier, Streisand had been the first Hollywood star to threaten to leave the country if Bush won reelection. She didn’t follow through.) Fans, some of whom had taken out loans on their homes in order to afford the best $1000 seats, wanted to hear the great Streisand sing – not lecture them.
But when her audience voiced its disapproval, what did Barbra do? She lashed out with a very un-New Agey “Shut the f*ck up!” Here’s the video:
–
Yes, the street fighter was back – only this time she wasn’t fighting for the hoi polloi, she was trying to shout them down. All of this was having a real Streisand Effect on me.
For instance, I wondered why this world-famous Jewess, who breathed damning fire onto the leaders of her own country, didn’t instead use her high profile to denounce the barbaric ideology that had declared war on us. Why wasn’t Streisand out there, front and center, raising her vocal cords in support of women in Islamic countries, who aren’t treated as well as American pets?
Why wasn’t she defending the gays – without whom she wouldn’t have a career - who were daily being shunned in Dubai, brutalized in Palestine, executed in Iran? Gay marriage is great, but how about fighting for our lives? Between AIDS (which Babs has raised money for) and Islam, the battle isn’t over yet.
Had no one invited Barbra to join Nicole Kidman, Michael Douglas, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and 76 other Hollywood hot shots and lend her name to a full-page newspaper ad condemning the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by Hamas and Hezbollah? Just asking.
Maybe the so-called “War on Terror” was too closely linked with Babs’s own personal Taliban, the Bush administration. In 2006, the singer cancelled a performance in Jerusalem for an event honoring the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state. Streisand offered no reason why she bowed out, but the Israeli newspaper Maariv quoted unidentified officials who suggested she had changed her mind because President George W. Bush was planning to visit at the same time.
A diva of her stature could shed plenty of light on the new wave of anti-Semitism sweeping the globe and on the millions of people still living in the dark shadow of militant Islam. That’s a Streisand effect I’d like to see. But maybe that’s too much to ask from the self-proclaimed feminist who reportedly demands that fresh rose petals be scattered in her toilet bowl when she’s on the road. Then again, maybe she’s just scared (you can’t sing very well if you lose your head – literally).
Finally, in December 2008, Babs came face-to-face with her longtime nemesis - the war-mongering Leader of the Free World she hailed as ”frightening” – at the Kennedy Center Honors. But “W’ turned out to be far from the monster she’d been fantasizing about for so many years.
As she confessed on her website: “It was just as surprising to me, as it apparently was to the press, that upon meeting President Bush and extending my hand to him, he said to me, ‘Aw c’mon, gimme a hug and a kiss,’ and then he proceeded to embrace me…. I must say, I found him very warm and completely disarming… even though I think he was kissing me hello as I was kissing him goodbye.”
Still, Streisand couldn’t resist getting in one last dig about his wink (”which he must have passed on to Sarah Palin”). Did she ever stop to consider just how many of her die-hard fans probably voted for the man?
Having avoided the hyper-immortality that comes with junkiedom and early death – that kind that keeps Garland, Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf selling records from beyond the grave - Barbara Joan Streisand, formerly of Brooklyn, has instead blossomed into a healthy, wealthy high priestess of a new Democratic regime that’s no longer of the working people (unless they’re “undocumented,” of course), but serves mostly to soothe the collective guilty conscious of the Oprah class.
What’s the saying? “Old limousine liberals never die, they just fade away.” (The real Marie Antoinette didn’t have that option.) Celebrities today are the vanguard in a new kind of bourgeois revolution – the real downside of capitalism run amok.
Barbra Streisand is now just another privileged star whose work – like that of Rosie O’Donnell, Tina Fey, and 9/11 Truther Christine Ebersole - this gay fan, for one, can no longer enjoy. Because once a performer, no matter how great, trades in the stage for the pretentious platform of liberal evangelism, there’s no coming back. The peasants aren’t that forgiving.
But thanks for the memories.
Walking past the outdoor patio of a gay club just the other night, I noticed all the patrons’ heads turned in the same direction, transfixed by an image on the big video screen inside. It was Streisand, belting out the the final scene of On a Clear Day – still fresh, vibrant, powerful. Nearly four decades later, that nostalgic clip of the amazing 28-year-old misfit could still silence a room.
That’s the way I choose to remember her.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Got a Tip?
79 Comments
Charles
I appreciate this ode to Babs. It seems you are writing the eulogy to your fan-ness of an icon. It it obvious how much she meant to you.
I am of an age where i never saw her at her best. I have a mental block on her. I won't now spend my time seeking out her older works. That is how the Streisand effect has impacted me. Her current incarnation has killed any desire to learn who she may have been.
Some years ago she was on TV, doing a press-briefing at Harvard about a litany of issues. People expected to hear the wisdom of the ages, they heard the whining of a spoiled adolescent. Funny thing. She has granted herself a great depth of understanding, but thinks because she could communicate a song she can explain and support a thesis. Take away the music and words fail her.
I am old enough to know Streisand. However, her political antics have long ago pressed the delete button for me. If it weren't for this article being in Big Hollywood, I never would have even glanced at it. And that's all I did, glance.
Weren't her songs used as torture in Gitmo?
Bless your heart Charles, but I NEVER could abide Streisand. I remember her back when she had burst on to the scene and was the darling of all media. It's just that she was so…..self-conscious. It seemed as though the focus was on her, not the music. I never got that with Ella Fitzgerald (to my taste the best singer ever).
"That’s the way I choose to remember her."
Nicely written piece. I think the saying "honor is the better part of valor" applies.
A friend of mine, about 20 years older than me, and I once had a discussion about people we used to be very close with and had fond memories of but somehow had lost touch with over the years. I asked him if he ever wanted to look them up. I was surprised when he said "no". When I asked why, he simply said so much time has gone by, they've probably changed from how he remembered them and if they had turned into a**holes it would ruin what remaining good feelings he still had for them.
As only a fan, not knowing any stars personally, I have my own image of them — like fans of radio stars long ago. When they open their mouths about something outside of what they're known for, I'm nearly always let down. They have the right to speak out about anything, of course. It just usually ends with them tarnishing their good image in my mind's eye. A few to the point of not seeing/listening/paying for anything they do any more.
yes my list of "won't watch or pay for their stuff" grows. I have a small list of older stuff from those same people i can't bring myself to reject. but i refuse to be a customer of the new.
In the early 70s, I took a ballet class, and the teacher would have us stretch and warm up to "Evergreen." To this day, if I hear the song, I start reaching for the stars …
I also admired the voice of Barbra Streisand, but now I can no longer separate the voice from the personality. It's a hard thing. I had to do the same thing with Luciano Pavarotti, and that's a sad story. And Linda Ronstadt can't perform if she knows there are Republicans or Christians in the audience. Cher's life was almost taken by Republicans—oh the list just goes on an on. Thanks for the memories indeed.
I arrived about 5 – 10 years late but gobbled up anything Barbra. "A Happening in Central Park" album was my introduction to her. I was WOWed by it. I was only 15 years old. I've developed a deep appreciation for jazz due to her "Third Album". But, like you, and especially with the music from things like "The Main Event", it was no longer the whole album that held me rapt. It was a song here or a song there. Then her politics got in the way. From that point on I could no longer look at her without seeing her preaching at me. Now, when I hear her on the radio, I just can't listen anymore. I just turn the radio off or change stations.
Tragic. I wish I could think fond thoughts of her like I did when I was 15.
generically speaking,
Johnnygeneric
You give Ms. Streisand too much power. You overlook all the work she has done and money she has donated to AIDS research. You criticize her for not being the way YOU want her to be, when Streisand has always been the "Don't Rain On My Parade" girl. She's *always* done what she wanted to do, recorded the songs she wanted to sing, and supported the politics that interested her. Conservatives and ultra-right folks are obsessed with this woman, and I've never understood it. No one forces you to click on her web site and read her Truth Alerts. She doesn't force them down your throat. You choose to click over there, read it, and become angry that Barbra's not acting the way you want her to. Ridiculous!
If you are a gay man who voted for George Bush, then I think that says a lot about you. And if you are a gay man who is a fan of Barbra Streisand — who, for years, has been a liberal Democrat — and are "shocked" that she would criticize Bush …. then what fantasy world are you living in?
Your piece here is well-written and thought out, and you make your points. But I sense a controlling personality (Barbra would be jealous!) who simply doesn't accept that people will be people … even Barbra Streisand is going to be Barbra Streisand.
If you don't like her, then why have you methodically pieced together this piece about her? Jeez, let it go!
1969 – when America built the best products in the world; when you got a degree in college it meant you were smart, and a "C" really meant average; when father knew best and was honored.
Fast forward only 4 decades to 2009 – America's divorce rate is one of the highest in the world of 200 countries; its woman are mostly whores with Women's Health Clinics (read: abortion clinics) in each neighborhood and almost a half of them are having children out of marriage; incarceration nation where America has 5% of the world's population, yet has 25% of its prison population – 95% are men; the word "diversity" is code for anti-christian male; and domestic terrorists are "conservatives."
I'm in kind of the same boat. I'm so disappointed in actors like Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. both are great talents (or used to be anyway). The original Bad Boys was a very intense movie with a yound Penn and who doesn't love Jeff Spicolli??
But the second he started punching out photographers and going on insane rants against Bush I just can't bring myself to see his movies anymore. He not only has absolutely no credibility, but has no class or self control either. He's now just another foaming at the mouth extremist hypocrite.
How he can pretend to be a defender of gay rights while visiting with the leaders of Iran and still look himself in the mirror proves that this man is so out of touch and so over the top in his insanity.
I'll miss Spicolli…..
Pt. 1
Charles, great article. I was never a Streisand fan but, I clearly understand the adoration a young, unformed liberal mind has towards celebrities. That same will look to these folks as guides along the path of political consciousness. I felt, "these people have been all over the world, surely they know everything, being such world travellers." Wrong. Once I did some world travelling myself, compliments of my rich Uncle Sam, I quickly found out that they simply do not understand how the common man in foreign countries thinks. Beside from being simply misinformed, they are downright stupid.
Pt. 2
The average "man on the street" is VERY conservative. They are very genuine in their beliefs. From the dirt streets of Podunk, Korea to the jungle paths of Honduras, I found these people to believe very much as I did. Extremely open and eager to engage in friendships. They honestly like us. I tried, many times, to engage liberals in college about this fact, to absolutely no avail. No, the celebutards are very out of touch with reality. I often wondered how their warped worldview would change if I could take them around to where I hung out. No lights, no cameras, no photo ops. It would make a consciousness altering change.
People want their favorite celebrities to live up to what they project them to be.
But they are just people after all.
This is why I do not understand the celebrity worship culture. I am not surprised or disappointed in what they do becuse i have no emotional investment.
I simply vote with my dollars. If i like an actor or singer, i will pay money to consume their stuff. If not, I won't. Neither of us owes the other anything. They don't have to live up to my standards, and i don't have to make them richer.
heh, heh…….no doubt. I would give them the combination to my locker in High School.
Look at this way. The quest for immortality is still twenty to thirty years away from success. That's far enough away for Babs not to make the cut. See, I can be opitimistic.
Look at this way. The quest for immortality is still twenty to thirty years away from success. That's far enough away for Babs not to make the cut. See, I can be opitimistic.
You obviously never read her full page ad/screed in the NYT after Bush was elected in 2000 pretty much calling for his assassination.
My Mother is Jewish and loved Barbara Streisand when I was a kid. Then as an adult when I moved to NYC and started working in restaurants I got to see her in person and for a nanosecond thought about getting her autograph for my Mom. I watched her look over the aintipasto bar where expensive food was laid out on platters for a waiter to serve you — Streisand just dove in with her dirty fingers and picked and tasted without any regard whatsoever! (When she was done contaminating the dishes the restaurant had to secretly dump and replace the dishes when her and Qunicy Jones sat down to eat. I've never liked or listened to her music but what I saw that day confirmed for me that she was a lousy, lousy human being. At the heart of socially bankrupt Hollywood liberals world view is the idea, or notion, that the world in fact revolves around them. It's encouraged by their handles and edified by their peers. Where did all the class go?
I think Mr Winecoff is expressing what a lot of fans feel about their favorite actor/singer/etc. : we love them for the beauty and dynamics of their TALENT. I didnt see Mr. Winecoff whining that Streisand wasnt being what he wanted her to be – from the beginning he loved her for the way her talent went against all other expectations…and like all fans, he wanted to continue to see that because it WORKED. But Streisand went from being all about her God-given talent to all about Her Gracious Influence…and frankly no fan wants to get lectured to. Thats not why I pay dollars to go see my favorite ACK!tor(s) (of which list is growing increasingly thin) – people are perfectly willing to allow them the same freedoms we all want: spend their money and time where they will…but the minute they start using their bully pulpit to tell the rest of us proles how to spend OUR money and time, they shouldnt be surprised if the response is: "All right…we WONT spend it with you!"
Besides, I dont recall EVER electing any of these divas to any position other than "ENTERTAIN ME!" with my dollars. Only a handful of them have run the vicious gauntlet of political approval, and only they get my respect and ear when it comes time for politcal expression. Otherwise, the Hollywood Crowd is just another part of the hoi poloi…and I know they HATE that…
—If you are a gay man who voted for George Bush, then I think that says a lot about you.—-
What are you trying to say here? Does one's sexual orientation automatically determine his or her's political consciousness? You will excuse me but, that is one of the more bigoted and unenlightened POV's I have ever come across.
—But I sense a controlling personality (Barbra would be jealous!) who simply doesn't accept that people will be people—
This makes no sense to me. Your implication is that the conservative mindset is always controlled by someone else. Nothing could be further from the truth and in fact, the reverse seems most often to be the case. I just keep coming back to the fact that you insist that all gay individuals must hate Bush. Very illuminating.
—If you are a gay man who voted for George Bush, then I think that says a lot about you.—-
What are you trying to say here? Does one's sexual orientation automatically determine his or her's political consciousness? You will excuse me but, that is one of the more bigoted and unenlightened POV's I have ever come across.
—But I sense a controlling personality (Barbra would be jealous!) who simply doesn't accept that people will be people—
This makes no sense to me. Your implication is that the conservative mindset is always controlled by someone else. Nothing could be further from the truth and in fact, the reverse seems most often to be the case. I just keep coming back to the fact that you insist that all gay individuals must hate Bush. Very illuminating.
—How he can pretend to be a defender of gay rights while visiting with the leaders of Iran and still look himself in the mirror proves that this man is so out of touch and so over the top in his insanity.—
It's all a part of a pattern.
Its quite silly to vote Democrat because you're gay. Democrats rarely do much to actually live up to their rhetoric towards gays, for one. We are supposed to vote for them because they tell us what we want to hear then don't do it. I'm supposed to betray my core beliefs on gun control, national defense, capitalism, global warming scam, etc, because of THAT? Puh-lease. We're all stocked up on feeble gay guilt trips here buddy try down the street.
I don't even mind when celebrities take an opposite view from me, if they can do it with intelligence and decorum. The problem, for me, is that most seem to be incapable of doing anything other than hurling insults and obscenities — or remaining calm and actually listening to another point of view,
Funny thing is that Striesand, like many of her big mouth friends, has a high school education. Nothing wrong with that per se. However, because some folks like her singing, she becomes a brainiac and know it all, at least according to the media.
Now, supposed Jane on the corner with HER HS education starts to spout. Who wants to cover THAT story.
Now, why is BS more credible on world issues?
That's it exactly…you said it much better than me
South Park said that all that needs to be said about Babs.
Wall-E made it okay for anyone to listen to the Hello Dolly soundtrack.
Babs is a horror show, perfectly represented by the boys at South Park and the mechagodzillastreisand – funny s&*t. I heard that after the hug by GW, he had to be deloused and fumigated. That kind of liberalism is very infectous – wait a second… maybe that's the reason he signed TARP 1, no child and the drug bill ? They must concoct a stronger formula to stop the transfer of madness.
Yes, it's called "mental illness"…..
Can't stand her, but still love to hear her early songs. Her rendition of "My Man" is a personal all-time favorite. Really moving.
One of my very favorite stories about Babs was reported by Jonah Goldberg 12/7/05 – apparently when Bill Clinton invited Sharon Stone to the White House for a consultation, instead of her, Streisand reportedly declared, "Why Sharon Stone? She doesn't know anything about policy."
That just cracks me up every time I think about it !
Thanks for that image of ballet class and "Evergreen" – horrifying!
You listen to Streisand! Dude, you're totally …
Oh, wait. You _are_!
To bad they call themselves liberals. The idea that race, sex (or sexual orienation) and class completely determine who you are, what you think and how you vote is totally illiberal, but it is at the core of the marxist wordview that grew into the collectivist ideologies of the 20th century, including modern progressivism. No wonder they are suspicious of independent minds, as conservative gays or blacks surely are.
Sounds worse than waterboarding to me.
I find it hysterical that Streisand wants a "more humane, open-minded, and ultimately effective public debate on the issues facing the country." Since when, Babs?
I loved Streisand when I was a kid. I even tried to form a fan club! I'm always saddened when the common person who has conquered all to find fame forgets where they came from and becomes just another plastic, molded, rich, Hollywood celebrity.
Your mention of a friend of yours that kind of let people go as time passed by and that touched a memory, and though not because of you, also a nerve. For many years I went through some trouble and expense to organize a big annual party in Austin for many far flung friends and former bandmates and we have a two day bash and jam and generally have a blow out. A few years back, it seemed everything I did drew critisism or comment and I decided, you know what "screw all of youa##holes" They teased my girlfriend (out of my earshot, chicken sh#$s) while not bringing their much less attractive "balls and chains" and generally wore through many years of goodwill in about 4 days over 2 years. So I sat down one day and decided "who do I need to know fro the old days that don't piss me off or depress me for a mutitude of reasons". I adhere to that list and don't miss the "old gang" one bit.
You know, Spicolli was still Penn back then. He grew up in Malibu and was most likely channeling someone he knew. His work is generally outstanding it's a shame he has to shoot his mouth off and alienate fans like me and you. Hey Sean, do you job and stick a sock in it.
Streisand walked by me at a screening once. Brolin was trailing her by about five yards. She was steaming away from something, obviously irked by yet another assumed slight. He had a look on his face that said "this is common" to me.
There's some point in the career of people like her, who are very talented but very unstable emotionally, where they cross into narcissism. I call it the Norma Desmond Effect – seems to fit Babs perfectly.
I'd rather pull out my teeth with pliers than listen to "People."
Ah, but Shirley, I don't care how wacky she is. I watched her rehearse her one-woman show that my friend Alan was choreographing. Maybe it's just the redhead thing, but I loved her feistiness, and talent. Plus she can be warm, something Babs apparently forgot how to do.
It's being said well here in response, she seems vapid and shallow and demands the political spotlight and when it shines on here, frankly it's an ugly image I see. She's a fantastic talent, a virtuoso singer (she has a fantastic ear, she hits notes EXACTLY) but unfortunately her politics hit a sour note with me.
Her ability to make you love her just for her singing came to a "Stony End" in the late sixties. And her duet with Johnny Mathis? Now THAT was gay. But it never stopped her from making cracks about "chorus boys" when they weren't around. When I did my one year "starving student" gig at NYU, I got to see her in "Funny Girl." What a performance! Those were great days on Broadway (I also saw "Hello Dolly" with Carol Channing, "Fade Out, Fade In" with Carol Burnett and "High Spirits" with Tammy Grimes, all on a student budget. Today those stars would have to be doing "Madagascar II–The Musical").
Streisand was always a liberal, but it seemed to take being a Hollywood star to turn her into an America-hating witch, with a capital B. At least she was able to revive the career of a fading TV doctor by gelding him and turning him into Mr. Barbra Streisand, which also worked to the advantage of hubby's skate-boarding moron of a son. She even allowed hubby to produce and star in a patriotic TV series–"Pensacola, Wings of Gold." Unfortunately, she must have watched one of the shows, because in the second season the young gung-ho American flyers had been replaced, and it was turned into "Baywatch Can Fly." Most of the flyers now spent their time running around in Speedos on Malibu Beach. Ugh!
I guess that we need to get a definition of "Open Minded" as it applies to Babs.
Exactly. Money doesn't equal intelligence, particularly when celebrities are involved.
Who would "Bubba" (from a strategic vantage point!) rather watch while she crosses her legs? Sharon or Babs- you be the judge!
Nov. 7th,2009 or as liberals will soon refer to it, the "new" date of 01/01/0001 A.O. (like the French after their bloody Revolution)
I have a few old buddies I've not heard from in over 15 years. Back in the day we were as close as brothers. I've considered looking them up (I only know where one lives now) but I keep thinking of what my friend Charley told me. Maybe one of these days…
Ah Charles…
Like you I was an early Streisand fan. As a young girl in 1968 I was mesmerized by her image on the big screen in "Funny Girl," and again in "Hello Dolly." Back then, any image of Streisand was an event. And I own ALL of her albums, going back to the very beginning. I was the kind of fan who anxiously anticipated the release of her next movie or album; her next appearance on TV.
And then she became just too full of herself. As she became older and less and less relevant on the entertainment scene, she decided to remake herself on the political scene. Because a Streisand fundraiser guaranteed big bucks for a candidate (as well as an opportunity for Babs to make big bucks on the resulting CD/TV Special/Video sales) the Dems went after her in droves – fawning over her to court her favor. Nobody more than Bill Clinton, with whom it is rumored she actually had quite an affair – which I tend to believe after witnessing the cold shoulder she was given by Hillary during Bill's administration, as well as the fawning dedication of her CD "Higher Ground" to, of all people, Bill Clinton's MOTHER.
But, as in all things Barbra, she began to believe the hype and take herself and her opinions w-a-a-y too seriously. And that's where she lost me. Now I don't care how talented she is (and frankly, she's so busy with her political crap that she's gotten very lazy with her professional life) I can't separate the singer and performer from the big-mouthed idiot political shill she's become. And that's really a shame.
I met Barbra Streisand years ago and she was terrific and fun. I saw her again in Boston two years ago where again she was terrific and fun. What I am getting from this ranting is all of you are disappointed with something..that's life. Remember she raised a son who contracted AIDS and was ill for a long time. Remember how much money she has given to the arts..everywhere..more than Oprah. she always has.
No one person is responsible for your feelings..she may have sung some songs you felt emotion with during a particular time in life. I know I have my music arranged by music to make love to, music to dance to and music to kill yourself to..
She is the greatest singer alive because she can sing torch, gospel, show tunes, pop, rock and jazz. With style and authority and best of all with a voice that has been unequalled by any other performer in her lifetime, she sings like all of us wish we could feel.
So lay off of her and try making love to Barack Obama's best boy-Decrepid or what ever his name is..a real talent?
Her brains have fallen out ?
I've been thinking of doing a version of People Who Need People in MY voice (think of a feline orgy) and posting it on youtube, with the notation that this is what her political rants sounds like to me.
Respectfully, (and I'm biased since I'm a huge fan), I wouldn't quite put Tina Fey in the same category as Streisand. She's not shooting her mouth off during live performances, writing asinine editorials, getting into legal hassles, claiming the government is behind 9/11, etc., ad nauseum.
Having said that, great article. I always enjoy your contributions.
Ya know, it's too bad that streisand had to go and show her hatred for anything that isn't as liberal as she is, because I really, really used to like her, a LOT. Loved her acting, her voice and once you got around the nose issue she's really not THAT hard to look at. BUT and that's a big BUT, her hatred of conservative ANYTHING is just too much to handle for any length of time. See ya Babs, it's been nice while it lasted.
She is an old fa$t, who songs have even gotten shriller by the day. i turn the radio off, if her song comes. Oh, that whiney voice- good god! I can't even stand her movies- she was pushed down our throat as beauty -which SHE was not,
What is the difference between being "unabashedly" Jewish and being just plain Jewish? Because Streisand was certainly not the first leading actress who was Jewish. Not by a longshot. (Lauren Bacall was probably the biggest before but certainly not the only one)
Part 1: Charles, you had me until 'my favorite singing dark horse was changing'. Your singing dark horse hasn't changed a bit. She still speaks her mind. I may not always agree, but being a Democrat- I usually do. That's the biggest rant you seem to have. As for her pushy perfectionism- where have you been? I can't believe your complaining like it occurred gradually. Obviously, she's always had the need to direct from day 1 with Funny Girl- her actions have always reflected that. Look at pix, I think there's a pix of her looking through a camera on every film she's ever been in. As for 'Evergreen', I loved 'Lost Inside of You' just as much- but the song still deserved an Oscar-not bad! I was a teenager at the time of Main Event. I liked the movie and the song. You complain about her singing the song, but it was popular- that doesn't make it bad- just not your taste. Why shouldn't she be commercial too? Why critisize for trying something different? At the time, we were getting new albums every year.
Part 2: 'Yentl' and 'Prince of Tides' proved she could direct. (I even liked Mirror. Look at other movies of the time- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days?) BTW, the only legs shot in POT that I remember was when Nolte was thinking of her romantically. Do you really think if it was another actress, it would have stayed a head shot? And, what's with you and the nail thing? My grandmother, born in KY and retired from factory work, loves to get her nails done. It's really not a big deal! I loved the notes in 'Lazy Afternoon'. It was interesting to see who she played music with at home and why she chose the songs. As someone else stated, just because she posts her political views doesn't mean you have to agree with them or even read them. Your benign samplings only prove your political views as much as hers. The 'Streisand Effect' has been a little unfair IMO. She probably supports the research, but the Conservancy decided to label her home with her name letting everyone know which house was hers. Tell me why that was necessary when a pix of the shoreline was all that was needed?
Part 3:I was at a 2006 concert and found the Bush skit cute portraying him as a likable, but misguided president- which he was. You'd think you'd be more outraged by the jokes of Letterman, Leno and Stewart who portrayed him badly every night! Bush and Barbra were both gracious for the Kennedy award. As others have said before- just because you may enjoy having a beer with Bush, doesn't mean he would make a good president. Believe it or not, I don't have rose-colored glasses. She's fallible, she's human- that's what I like. She's still a living legend when very few are left and she deserves some respect. She celebrates her 67th birthday next Friday, and Saturday she'll be on CBS for her Concert Special. How many 67 year olds can say that? I hope you take another look. Finally, I feel very sorry that you feel so cheated. You were obviously a fan, but she's always had a reputation for being tough, outspoken and funny and still is.
Part 4: Too bad you can't get passed the politics and enjoy the old and new music and movies. She still has the emotion and invincibility you spoke of- and maybe you'd be surprised that her voice could still bring you pleasure if you'd let it. Good Luck to you. You seem a little bitter- hope you feel better for the rant.
Tina tina tina..Is your REAL name James by any chance? I mean someone HAS to stand by her, right? If not James then maybe her next husband?
You KNOW she's not going to stop at James.
SgtTank, you're cute. Tina really is my name and I'm a MidWest, married, mother of two. I guess I got a little carried away, but there really are people out there who still enjoy Barbra!
I agree with Charles in that as she got more in 'control' of things she demanded to be, the less fresh, the less appealing her music became. Genius is her early work. It gets — not sure of the word. Common, perhaps. She loses something vital in her movies, music and in her performances. I think this is the most important part of the article.
Truthfully, I normally can't be bothered with worrying over the politics of stars. Sure, I enjoy finding someone like minded; that's human nature. I don't find a lot of reasons to seek out Hollywood stars for their opinions on politics or whatnot. My life is too full with raising my own family, trying to work out how to get my autistic son to speak in whole sentences and keeping a step ahead of my bills. But, the question of WHY did someone so talented seem to lose so much appeal and seem to lose so much of their genius, is food for thought. This article has quite a lot of suggestions as to why that may be, and the lessons are valid in an American nobody's life as well as a talented star. Good article.
Good grief, if that comment about a gay man voting for George Bush is not the most idiotic and poorly thought out bunch of tripe to come across my screen in a long time, then I do not know what is. How in God's name does sexual orientation equate to political belief? I guess blacks and hispanics are also high up on Babs Fan's list of those who dare not show any individuality in their politics.
I gave that Parade song a chance, but it was awful, granny music. I never liked her when I was growing up (except for What's Up Doc), and always hated her music. She was ubiquitous in the 70's – awful syrupy movies and syrupy awful music.
One of my favorite episodes.
Are you, like, John Elway famous?
When people start believing their press, when they start to lose their self awareness they show a side no one ever wanted to see and Babs has done that. I used to like her music to. We had her Christmas album and no one sang Ave Maria like she does. No One. However, I listen to it now and think the woman has no idea what she is singing, and she doesn't appreciate that God given talent. She ruined that song for me.
Lauren Bacall, like most Jewish actors and actresses of that time, changed her name and hid her Jewish identity. Babs didn't. That's the difference. Pretty simple, really.
My apologies to the author, but just reading that much about BS would force me to either jam ice picks into my eyeballs or go full, bust-out retail gay and start singing show tunes LOUDLY while mall-shopping for some sensible pumps. I had to stop reading after two paragraphs because they never have any pumps that I like in my size.
[...] Best Week Ever added an interesting post on The Streisand Effect – or People Who Donâ [...]
Nuts. That's how I remember Streisand. In case no one remembers, it was a move where Streisand played a call girl who was locked up for murder because she was insane, when the truth was, she was so VERY sane and it was in self defense. She was so spirited, so intense. I've seen her recently, and politics aside, it is NOT the same woman, and she can't chalk it up to maturity.
Ian McShane – - that's maturity.
Shirley Bassey – -that's maturity.
hell, Eartha Kitt- – that's maturity.
The same intensity that made her is blunt, and has been replaced by selective meanspiritedness. The hunger that made her tough has degenerated into a complacent softness. I'm not even a fan and I can see it.
It's a touching eulogy you've written, Charles.
*MissQuinn*
[...] The Alabama Weather Blog created an interesting post today on The Streisand Effect – or People Who Donâ [...]
[...] Optical Sloth put an intriguing blog post on The Streisand Effect – or People Who Donâ Permalink Comments [0] [...]
[...] Jon David, Big Hollywood: My Weekly Date with a Liberal – Date #2 Charles Winecott, Big Hollywood: The Streisand Effect – or People Who Don’t Need People The Denver Channel: Hilton Still Hot Over Miss USA [...]
[...] Jon David, Big Hollywood: My Weekly Date with a Liberal – Date #2 Charles Winecott, Big Hollywood: The Streisand Effect – or People Who Don’t Need People The Denver Channel: Hilton Still Hot Over Miss USA [...]
[...] admin added an interesting post on The Streisand Effect – or People Who Donâ [...]
You must be logged in to post a comment.