Oct20
Saying Goodbye to King of Catty, Mr. Blackwell
Posted at 03:13 PM | Permalink
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Comments (3)
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There are a couple of reasons why Mr. Blackwell was so well-loved at PETA. First, his list was the inspiration for our own infamous Worst-Dressed List of notorious fur-addicts. His lists included the most biting barbs and were packed with puns and alliterative allusions (he rhymed, too, but I'm not very good at that). We loved that his 2006 list included fur hag Sharon Stone, whom he described as "an over-the-hill Cruella DeVille." Of course, we had already included her in our 2001 list, saying, "Put your fur coat away, Sharon. We saw enough of that tired old beaver in Basic Instinct."
We've agreed with Mr. Blackwell on more than just those two occasions, though. He described Madonna as follows: "From Ghetto Glam to Rhinestone Cowgirl to Mrs. Guy Ritchie. Any way you label it, she's still just kitschy, kitschy, kitschy." We said of the Material Girl: "The animal on her back is as dead as her film career—and duck-hunting hubby Guy Ritchie is not going to revive either." Whoopsie, I guess those little barbs aren't too relevant anymore!
Mr. Blackwell also agreed with us on the subject of the Trollsen Twins, saying of Hairy-Kate, "She resembles a tattered toothpick trapped in a hurricane." And finally, both we and Mr. Blackwell elected to pull Britney Spears off of our respective Worst-Dressed Lists in 2007; PETA decided that she needed a break from everyone, and Mr. Blackwell decided it was inappropriate to mock her "when her personal life [was] in such upheaval."
What can we say? Great minds think alike, and Mr. Blackwell was truly a great mind—2008 won't be quite the same without his list. It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our inspiration: the king of catty, Mr. Blackwell.
Posted by Amanda Schinke
TAGGED:
Fur obituary mr. blackwell worst dressed list
Comments
But did Mr. Blackwell speak against wearing fur? If not, I dont think he and PETA had much in common after all.
Posted by: rex's mom | October 20, 2008 06:49 PM
It sounds like Mr. Blackwell didn't really list celebs as worst dressed based on fur or leather but instead picked on the celebs who were wearing ugly, tacky clothes apart from the materials used. Your list is based entirely on the materials used, not on looks, so it's totally different. You may pay homage to him for piggybacking and copying his 10 worst dressed list idea, but it's not like his list was based on the same criteria or motives.
Posted by: Abby | October 21, 2008 01:29 PM
Maybe he did not move mountains in the animal rights movement but if he made a couple of celebrities think twice about wearing tasteless fur then he did do some good! Right now Peta! Happy Halloween everyone!
Posted by: Crystal | October 22, 2008 03:00 PM