Paris Hilton and Larry King provide little substance
The most redeeming things about Larry King's interview with Paris Hilton last night were the repeated promotions for tonight's guest, former secretary of state Colin Powell. If softballs are to be lobbed again on CNN, they at least will be softballs with substance.
Perhaps this means our national charade is finally over -- that long period in which we conspired to pretend that a vapid celebrity's minuscule sentence was somehow of interest or import. Yes, there was a time, during that day or so when Hilton was sprung from jail and given house arrest, that this seemed an opportunity for national debate about a justice system rife with inequalities.
But that moment for reflection cam and went -- especially, it seems, for Hilton,who is treating her 23 days in Los Angeles County jail as a torture she barely escaped. "The cell was, like, 8 by 12," she told King, apparently unaware that in New York, that's about the size of some people's apartments.
Were we expecting growth? Did we want it? Probably not. Hilton is the apotheosis of celebrity culture, famous for being rich, singing poorly, and acting stupid on TV. The wall-to-wall media frenzy over her jail time might have seemed impossible five years ago, when the world was considered a more sober place. Evidently, like Hilton herself, we sobered up briefly in difficult times, but we haven't exactly matured.
No, we continue to watch, and Hilton, in return, manages to buck the current trend of celebrities trying to save the world. She gave brief lip service to discouraging drunk driving, given the consequences of her own DUI. But when King asked what she didn't like about herself, she answered: "When I get nervous or shy, my voice gets very high. That's something I'm trying to change about myself."
Even King seemed at a loss, reduced to complimenting Hilton on her mug shot, which featured pink lip gloss, and teasing to the copious "notes" she wrote during her weeks in jail. ("We hear some of them are extraordinary.") When she contended that she never does drugs and barely drinks, he pressed her on why she hadn't told the world how good she is. He seemed to have trouble filling an hour of TV time: "A couple more segments to go," he said at one point, sounding desperate.
Meredith Vieira and Barbara Walters might well have been relieved; a little less shame on the part of their bosses, and this might have been their burden. The "exclusive" King-Hilton matchup came after a high-profile flirtation with NBC and ABC, during which Hilton's family leaked word of hefty payments in the form of entertainment deals and licensing fees. (All three networks have said they don't pay outright for interviews.)
Last night, CNN made the most of its hand-me-down "get," devoting almost all of the show that followed, "Anderson Cooper 360," to continued analysis of the Hilton story. To Cooper's credit, he mocked the heiress openly and re-aired that clip about changing her voice. Even King, brought in to recap, described the experience as "kind of awkwardly conflicting."
"Are you glad you did the interview?" Cooper asked him, and what he probably meant was, "Do you feel dirty?" Maybe he does. I do. But Paris Hilton, it's safe to say, is feeling perfectly fine.
