Annals of Hype–Bethany, Baby!: First, Jessica Lynch. Now Bethany Hamilton. America’s celebrity hype machine loves blondes. According to the NY Daily News, TV producers and agents are all over the surfing 13-year old shark attack victim, dangling all sorts of deals in the race to get the first interview. Book deal? Cool. Wanna go on MTV? Cowabunga. Oprah calling? Please hold. Matt Lauer? Isn’t he the Dude with the gnarly hair implants? Larry King? Who? It goes on and on. “Inside Edition” is even rumored to have offered to pay for a state-of-the-art prosthetic arm. I can just picture the scene. Arm snaps into place. Swell violins. Bethany steps on a surf board. Close-up of Mom crying. The kid just wants to surf and she needs the money, so you can’t fault her for taking advantage. And I hope her agent screws the media hyena out of every cent possible. But feel free to be utterly sickened by modern American culture……



The Un-Garbo: “So, like, will I be able to keep the Hummer?”

(Photo: bethanyhamilton.com)