Mae West: Falsely Portrayed

MAE WEST’s plump, curvaceous body was a vital element in her comedy. Academics have emphasized that “excessive body is one of the qualities of female unruliness, suggesting that she is unwilling or unable to control her physical appetites.” Japanese film historian Mio Hatokai discusses how Hollywood publicists and fan zines responded to this “fatness” in 1933. This is Part 30 of a lengthy piece.
• • Laughing off the “Fatness” ― Mae West’s Body Image and Female Spectators in the Early 1930s • •
• • Mae West: Was falsely portrayed as a “young newcomer” • •

• • Mio Hatokai wrote: This article continues: In spite of the fact that she’s a footlight veteran, Mae is “young.” It wasn’t long ago that she turned thirty like a handspring. Moreover, she’s practically beautiful, in her opulent way. Luscious complexion, a fine head of hair, and eyes that fairly knock your hat off. Though generously built, she jiggles the beam at under a hundred and twenty. Believe me, you look three times as Mae West passes by!     
• • At 40 years old, Mae West was not a “starlet” nor “an ingénue” • •
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Some of the sentences here appear unusual for an article raving about a new actress. After all, Mae West was not a starlet.
• • Mae West: Fan magazine writers tried to blur her age and erase “maturity” • • ...   
• • Mio Hatokai’s lengthy article will continue on the next post.
• • Source: Academic anthology on film stars released by Waseda University, 2015.
• • On Tuesday, 30 November 1948 • •
• • Brooks Atkinson reviewed the New Jersey revival of "Diamond Lil" and his comments were printed in The New York Times on Tuesday, 30 November 1948 (on page 2). The title was "Mae West Hits Montclair" and Brooks Atkinson called Mae West "the goddess of sex."
• • On  Sunday, 30 November 1969 • •
• • Mae West was featured in The N.Y. Times Magazine on Sunday, 30 November 1969.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • One day a young woman from the Paramount offices came on to the set. She remarked that Miss West's perfume was the fragrance that she adored above all others. Mae's reply was, "Yes, I like it, too." But the next day the girl found a large bottle of the precious liquid on her desk, with a card from Mae West.
• • Note: In an upcoming post, you'll learn about Parfum Mae West by Gabilla of Paris.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I have just seen that RAF flyers have a life-saving jacket they call a 'Mae West' because it bulges in all the right places. Well, I consider it a swell honor to have such great guys wrapped up in me, know what I mean?"
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • The New Yorker featured an article on Mae West.
• • “The Strong Woman: Mae West” • •
• • Claudia Roth Pierpont wrote: Mae West used the qualities men brought to playing women: detachment, control, laughter, impregnability. Most of her movies were set in the Gay Nineties; the period dress suggestively contained her full figure.
• • Claudia Roth Pierpont wrote: In 1934, Hollywood strengthened its Production Code. 1934's "Belle of the Nineties," based on Mae West's novel "The Constant Sinner," eliminated its theme of interracial sexual attraction. …
• • Source: The New Yorker; published on Sunday, 3 November 1996
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • •
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — —
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,876th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.

• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in Movie Classic, September 1932 issue • •
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