Daily PUMA Column - Commentary by Alessandro Machi

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Jessica Simpson is in the news for gaining a few pounds, but is that the real story here?

There is linkage to Jessica's past which may have caused her alleged weight gain to become a news story today. When Jessica Simpson was first announced as Daisy Duke of the Dukes of Hazzard movie, her body became her number one ally.

Slow motion shots of Jessica with her bare midrift fully exposed as she slow motion sauntered towards the camera were regularly shown on television, and then in the movie, and were money shots designed to both legitimize Jessica Simpson as a sculpted princess, and create buzz for the Dukes of Hazzard movie at the same time. When the Dukes of Hazzard movie went to DVD, even more slow motion shots of an abful Jessica could be seen in the commercials promoting the Dukes of Hazzard DVD.

Since then, Jessica has been linked with professional football quarterback Tony Romo, another reminder that Jessica is indeed a jock, or a jockette. Jessica used her body to power ahead her movie career, and therefore it becomes inevitable that when there is a change in her physique, it will become news.

I am curious if Jessica ever paid any kind of a significant homage or appreciation to the original Daisy Duke, Catherine Bach. Catherine Bach's performance as Daisy Duke in the original Dukes of Hazzard's television show no doubt helped keep the embers burning all these years. Of all the characters on the original Dukes of Hazzard TV show, perhaps it was Daisy Duke, Boss Hoggs, and Enos that were the most popular characters.

I am pretty sure Catherine Bach, just 25-30 years removed from the original Dukes of Hazzard television series, received a mere pittance of compensation back then compared to what Jessica Simpson received for her part in the movie version of the Dukes of Hazzard. I presume that Catherine Bach was probably not involved in the movie version, other than for a possible opportunistic photo op or two to promote the movie, and Jessica Simpson. It is a bit twisted that the original Daisy Duke can do no better than hype the new Daisy Duke. Dare I suggest that actor reparations are in order?

If Jessica didn't feel it necessary to tithe back to Catherine Bach in any way, (and I don't know if she did or not), then why should I feel sorry for a financial opportunist's weight gain being publicized in the media? Especially when the media plays down Catherine Bach's real contribution involving the creation of the Daisy Duke character.


As time goes on, I believe it's less and less about who is in the news at any given moment in time, and more and more about who is being forgotten. Is the story of Jessica's weight gain the real story here, or is the real story how Catherine Bach blazed a financial trail for Jessica Simpson to strut through. Will Jessica Simpson ever properly thank Catherine Bach for making the Daisy Duke role so memorable that Jessica could make a LOT of money 25 years later?

Catherine Bach, take a bow for helping get Jessica Simpson super rich, I wish there was something in it for you to.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I am not sure about anyone else, but I tuned in to see "Bo" and "Luke" while my son tuned in to see "General Lee" and hubby tuned in to see "Daisy". lol.. those were two hot guys! I sure nejoyed looking at them!

Alessandro Machi said...

Bo and Luke were replaced after a few seasons because they felt they weren't being paid enough. The show never really recovered. Part of that was the two of them being gone, part of it was the show was getting a bit worn around the edges.

I think Daisy probably had a lasting effect on the guys watching, probably whomever greenlighted the Movie watched the original show as a teen, but I see your point as well.

Anonymous said...

Jessica Simpson is smart... she's taking over where Kirstie Alley left off and is thus poised to make a ton of money advertising for the weight loss industry

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