Miscellaneous - Star Stories

  by Sarah Maybank

published: 24 / 8 / 2007

intro

CH4's 'Star Stories' provides satirical documentary-style profiles of the rich and famous. Sarah Maybank is amused by the first series which has just been released on DVD

Psychiatrist: "So, Michael Douglas, how long have you suffered from sex addiction ?" Michael Douglas: "Ever since I was rich and famous." Vain, needy, attention-seeking... what’s not to love to hate about celebrities? And if 'Stellar Street' forged the knife, and 'Extras' brandished it, 'Star Stories' sticks it to them right up to the hilt. What you get here is six sort-of-untruthful, documentary-style ‘profiles’, skewering insecure, champers-quaffing 'Heat' fodder such as Brad & Jen, Douglas & Zeta Jones, Posh & Becks, plus a multitude of their publicity-prone brethren. And it gets them where it hurts in every which way. The actorly lookalikes are insultingly heavier than the skeletal spotlight-seekers they're meant to be portraying, life stories are cheekily tampered with, and soft targets are shamelessly exploited – Jude Law’s hairline; Sean Penn’s toys-out-of-the-pram temper; John "I’m an intensely sexual being" Leslie’s bedroom "interests". One big slap around the chops, then, for the gold-plated, much-envied fraternity for whom life is normally one long air-kiss. And when you’ve finished marvelling at the glorious cruelty of it all, watch it again and enjoy all the jibes directed at peripheral characters such as Gary "Call me uncle" Glitter and Sean "Did you know my dad was Doctor Who ?" Pertwee. What's that, celebs? How dare we, the little people, the civilians, mock your talent and reduce you to mere caricatures? Well, we’re the ones funding your mink-lined lifestyles, so we’ve earned it. And yes, we concede that with the fleets of limos and butlers at your beck and call, you laugh last. But, come on, admit it, we laugh longest.