Monday, December 13, 2004

Mae West: The Blonder the Better

Mae West: Bombshell Blonde


In his 1995 book, "Big Hair: A Journey into the Transformation of Self," the Canadian anthropologist Grant McCracken argued for something he calls the "blondness periodic table," in which blondes are divided into six categories: the "bombshell blonde" (Mae West, Marilyn Monroe), the "sunny blonde" (Doris Day, Goldie Hawn), the "brassy blonde" (Candice Bergen), the "dangerous blonde" (Sharon Stone), the "society blonde" (C.Z. Guest), and the "cool blonde" (Marlene Dietrich, Grace Kelly). L'Oreal's innovation was to carve out a niche for itself in between the sunny blondes -- the "simple, mild, and innocent" blondes -- and the smart, bold, brassy blondes, who, in McCracken's words, "do not mediate their feelings or modulate their voices. . . ."

Mae West cultivated a unique voice and a special brand of sex appeal. Never remote or frosty, her approach was an "equal opportunity" come-on. "I like two kinds of men," Mae West said, "domestic and foreign." A woman can't get any friendlier than that, can she?

Come Up and See Me Sometime - a song by MAE WEST

I believe that everyone in life should have a mission
Making people happy is the height of my ambition
And when I get them happy, well, they stay in that condition

I have a system all my own
I got a lot, a lot of what I got
And what I got's all mine
And I assure you I can cure you
If you're feeling blue
Come up and see me sometime

I got a flat where you can hang your hat
I got a brand new line
Maybe you would like me
To explain it all to you

Come up and see me sometime
Come up tonight
I think the papers said the moon will be bright
They should have had in the columns and all
Letters that call that you'll be falling for me
Cause I'm free and you appeal to me
How could it be a crime
If you don't get my number
Well, my number's in the book
Come up and see me sometime


INSTRUMENTAL


Here is the key, the room is 503
It's not so far to climb
You know the spider's invitation to the fly
Come up and see me sometime

Anytime
The sooner, the better
Mmmmmm....

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:50 PM

    The fact that you straight up plagiarized Malcolm Gladwell in your first paragraph is immoral and ludicrous.

    ReplyDelete
  2. — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
    • • Attn: Mr. or Ms. Anonymous (too cowardly to sign your name):
    • • This is my first paragraph, attributed to the Canadian author/ anthropologist Grant McCracken and his book "Big Hair" — —
    • • In his 1995 book, "Big Hair: A Journey into the Transformation of Self," the Canadian anthropologist Grant McCracken argued for something he calls the "blondness periodic table," in which blondes are divided into six categories: the "bombshell blonde" (Mae West, Marilyn Monroe), the "sunny blonde" (Doris Day, Goldie Hawn), the "brassy blonde" (Candice Bergen), the "dangerous blonde" (Sharon Stone), the "society blonde" (C.Z. Guest), and the "cool blonde" (Marlene Dietrich, Grace Kelly). ...
    • • If it is your opinion that Mr. McCracken has plagiarized Mr. Gladwell, then you should be sending anonymous letters to the Canadian author, not to me.
    — — — — — — — — — — — —

    ReplyDelete