Monica8217;s last sigh

Monica Lewinsky has long overstayed her fifteen minutes of fame. But then, as Oprah Winfrey and her clones proved with their runaway success, nothing quite animates America like a good old confessional. Indeed, only a dysfunctional obsession with psycho-babble and real-life soaps could account for the much-hyped Monica fatigue giving way to another bout of Monica mania with the publication of a kiss-and-tell tome 8212; which really adds no more to our knowledge about the overweight brat8217;s thong underwear or her tawdry escapades in the White House except to tell us that between rendezvous with the president she was seeing a Pentagon official. And so, we have the spectacle of a makeovered Monica 8212; sporting a 8220;pre-Raphaelite8221; look, we are told 8212; attracting a record 75-million television viewership in the US by sighing and sniffling her way through pathetically adolescent ruminations in carefully choreographed interviews.

Something is clearly very, very wrong in turn-of-the-century America. For instance, sparea thought for the millions of Americans who might try to take stock of the sisterhood8217;s predicament on women8217;s day today. A First Lady8217;s political ambitions, they will note, may finally be realised as her popularity ratings soar for the first time not because she is unusually intelligent and worthy, but because she heroically stood by her husband as he unblinkingly stained not just a young intern8217;s blue dress but also his legacy. Yet, in a strange way, this new round in the Monica saga does have its healthy fallouts. For over a year now, while indulging in a tabloidish binge, Americans have been left extremely bewildered and disturbed as a president8217;s indiscretions became a weighty matter of state and opinion poll companies called on them day in and day out to balance his morality against his handling of the economy. With the impeachment over and Ken Starr8217;s near pornographic report replaced by a pulp bestseller by Princess Diana8217;s confidant, the story has somewhat been restored to its rightful status of puregossip. 8220;Somewhat8221; because there has been the attendant spectacle of the leader of the world8217;s only superpower having to play the magnanimous estranged lover and publicly reply to the interview and tell Monica he wishes her well.

However, make no mistake, this new bout of Monica madness is ultimately a comment on the medium. Even as the former intern mouthed inanities like 8220;I have this tendency to want people to like me8221;, the TV broadcaster was raking in 800,000 for each 30-second advertisement slot. And was it well orchestrated! Monica just had to dwell on her thong underwear, and a lingerie ad followed; she simply had to refer to her weight problems, and a fast food chain advised viewers to 8220;stop crying, start eating8221;; interviewer Barbara Walters merely had to hold up the copy of Leaves of Grass presented to Monica by her former lover, and Amazon.com had record orders for Walt Whitman8217;s classic. Viewers are entitled to echo Monica8217;s now famous line on the interview: 8220;I felt dirty, I felt used.8221;