‘No bad publicity’ for Paris Hilton

Bhavna Khullar

Paris Hilton is popularly identified as a socialite ‘famous for being famous’. Her list of achievements is long: she has been branded the world`s `Most Overrated Celebrity`, voted second `Worst Celebrity Role Model of 2006`, has posed nude – covered in gold paint - to promote "Rich Prosecco", a version of the Italian sparkling wine – and done many more things besides. In spite of being the daughter of the Chairman of the Hilton hotel chain Richard Hilton and Kathy Hilton, Paris decided to go off the beaten track. She decided to play out a continuous line of inane publicity tricks culminating in a sex video. Her sex video with the then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, is believed to have been a part of her publicity campaign. She claimed that she never wanted it to be released. However it may be, it worked. Appearing a week prior to the premiere of ‘The Simple Life’, her own TV show, the video made Hilton a household name overnight. Paris bagged the title of the ‘Worst Dressed Celebrity’ in 2003. After that there was no looking back. She began a remarkable and well-financed campaign to put herself in the public eye: on screen, on television and in music. Success Paris started getting modeling work. Her presence on-screen also grew. She was seen in commercials, on TV series and in the movies. At first she only managed bit parts in movies like ‘Zoolander’, ‘Wonderland’ and ‘The Cat in the Hat’. Her presence on TV, initially, was limited to guest appearance roles on shows such as `The OC` and `George Lopez`. But later she was able to get more substantial roles; in movies like the ‘House of Wax’ and the direct-to-DVD ‘Bottoms Up’. She also came up with her own TV show, the fish-out-of-water reality series ’The Simple Life’. She was also the subject of a ‘South Park’ episode entitled ‘Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset’, in which she is shown opening a store called ‘Stupid Spoiled Whore’.

Physical changes

Paris’ journey to fame has included a substantial amount of physical alteration. She has used tinted contact lens, hair coloring and undergone extensive plastic surgery in her attempt to reinvent herself as "hot". The one thing she has not been able to alter is her size 11 feet. The part of her person she most dislikes, but sadly a problem that would not go away by throwing money at it.

Hilton seems to be fully convinced by the wise saying that there`s no such thing as bad publicity. She believes that it should be evident even to her critics that she – unlike many other socialites – is ambitious and determined to achieve something in her own right, rather than simply enjoy her family`s vast fortune. In fact, acting is only one of her many pursuits. She has also experimented with designing, writing, business, modeling, and music. Hilton, in order to earn a name in the music business, has recorded an album, and started her own music label, ‘Heiress Records’. Plus, she is working on a clothing line that she plans to name "That`s Hot".

"I don`t want to be known as the grand-daughter of the Hiltons. I want to be known as Paris". This comment sums up the erratic yet intriguing career of Paris Hilton. And if this is what she went out to achieve, she has succeeded.