Opinion Covered,but never uncovered
How did Elizabeth Taylor remain her own person,in a culture where celebrities are devoured whole?
David Carr
No one could have been surprised by the flurry of headlines surrounding Elizabeth Taylors death. Taylor certainly would not have been. She sailed through life on a sea of ink and never seemed in danger of drowning.
Ceaselessly covered,but never truly uncovered,Elizabeth Taylor was her own damn thing no matter what anybody said or did. In a feat that would be hard to replicate in the transparent age of today,she seemed completely open but mysterious,too. Unlike Lady Gaga,or Madonna before her,she did not maintain custody of her image and her fans by mutating to give them what they wanted before they even knew they wanted it. Taylor was convinced from a very young age that what they wanted was her as she already was and always would be.
Given that she began living out loud at the age of 12,she was easy pickings for a culture that has come to snack on those it adores,but unlike Britney or Lindsay,Liz did not end up as public property. She may have been robbed of her privacy,but her soul never seemed as if it were up for grabs. Taylor,who found her own public image revolting,did not confuse what was said about her for what she thought of herself. She always seemed to be having a very wonderful time of it,and for all the paparazzi shots of her,there are few in which she seems hunted or haunted.
We could chalk up her ability to wear fame as a loose garment to the relatively benign media ecosystem of her time. And while Taylor chafed against the studio system of Old Hollywood,which kept her under the thumb of MGM,the relationship went both ways: The studio looked after her as if she were a rare jewel because she was.
Speaking of which,the fact that she maintained dignity in death as well as in life seems to have little to do with her lifestyle choices. She married seven men,bought hundreds of carats of diamonds and during certain times in her life,ate and drank like a sailor on leave. I know Im vulgar, she once said,but would you have me any other way?
But that is not the same as saying that she was not a lady. She was every inch a lady. Its trite to say,but think of the biggest-wattage stars,like,say,Angelina Jolie. Jolie is remarkably beautiful and very talented,and,like Taylor,in control of her own career. But there is certain masculinity to Jolies appeal,a willingness to kick some tail on screen and go after whatever she wants off-screen. And before you dismiss the argument as the product of a diseased,sexist mind,a little thought experiment: Before there was Brangelina,there was Dickenliz. In the instance of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie,who is the alpha? Its not really even much of a question. Yet even though Taylors fans adored her with far more ferocity than Richard Burtons talents ever engendered,she deferred to him. That may be why,apart from her manifest beauty,she remained,as director George Stevens said,the girl every American boy thinks he can marry.
Many did,of course,none with much success. In that way,as well as others,she was something of a traditionalist. She chose to marry the men whom she wanted to sleep with,and if she didnt have a knack for making marriage work,well,you cant blame a girl for trying. She found real satisfaction in other parts of life. The current crop of celebrities pick up and drop causes like a dinner napkin,but Taylor decided early on that AIDS was her calling.
Even as she went through what has become the crucible of modern fame for talented women she had affairs,dropped and gained weight,went through treatment for drug and alcohol addiction she never seemed imprisoned by her own celebrity. Early on,schooled and protected by the studio system,she mastered the art of being famous,and as a result built a career that seems almost comical in its longevity in the current context: 50 films,70 years and we are still talking about Elizabeth Taylor.
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