A Modern Day Marie Antoinette

A few years ago, while I was visiting my family in California, I was watching the local news with my younger sister. The highlight of that evening’s news was the arrest of Paris Hilton. She had been charged with a misdemeanor for driving under the influence - not her first driving misdemeanor. My sister and I both had a laugh because we realized that local news in California is news about celebrities. Needless to say, I logged this interesting bit of breaking news away in my mind.

A few months ago, I watched the movie “Marie Antoinette” written and directed by Sofia Coppola. I enjoyed the movie tremendously mostly because Coppola had done a remarkable job of relating a historical figure like Marie Antoinette and the times that she lived in to the time we live in today. There was one particular scene at the end of the movie that really stood out to me. In this scene: Marie Antoinette comes out to the balcony of her palace. The palace is surrounded by masses of people who are revolting against the King of France. As she steps out onto the balcony, the crowd comes to a standstill - their shouts are silenced and their pitch forks are lowered. Marie Antoinette makes a deep bow to the crowd. For a moment the crowd remains silent as though waiting for her to say or do something of significance. Then all of sudden, the crowd erupts again with their shouts and continue to storm the castle.

So what do Paris Hilton and Marie Antoinette have in common? Both have or had tremendous access to wealth, luxury, popularity and as a result undeniable influence. Consider why it is such news to us to know what Paris Hilton wears and to what party she just attended. Marie Antoinette was very much the trend-setter in French fashion during her time - it was also of interest to the crowd as to what the Queen of France did to entertain herself. They are or were both public figures who are known for nothing other than their celebrity status. They are also alike in that they both have or had access to this tremendous amount of influence and yet are or were negligent in how they utilize(d) this influence.

What is most disturbing of all is that they are both in fact what we as the public have constructed for ourselves to find entertainment or momentary escape from our own lives. We create our Paris Hiltons and our Marie Antoinettes and end up caricaturizing persons into the “dumb blonde” who end up playing no role in history except to entertain or tickle our voyeuristic longings. I do feel a twinge of sympathy for them but at the same time, long to see such influence better utilized and perhaps even harnessed to bring about positive change in our world.