Friday, February 16, 2007

Who exactly cares about Anna Nicole?


At midnight on Valentine’s Day, the music stopped inside Club Onyx on Old Pineville Road. Ten dancers walked out onto the stage and gave each other perplexed looks.

The announcer explained: Last week, Anna Nicole Smith passed away, he began.

“And?” someone said.

The announcer continued, explaining that Smith used to dance at Rick’s Cabaret, which owns Club Onyx in Houston. (In fact, that’s where she met her late husband.) So at midnight, all of the Rick’s Cabarets around the country were saluting Smith. At each club, the dancers were expected to come out on stage at midnight and blow her a kiss.

In Charlotte, the dancers bowed their heads for a brief moment of silence. Then the music started, and the dancers marched off-stage indifferent to what had just happened.

Their nonchalance struck me as curious. It seemed like Smith’s rise to fame would appeal to the dancers, but it didn’t. I interviewed a few, who didn’t care much about her.

Nya had the most to say: “She’s a dancer. A lot of people have this misconception about her. Everybody has to eat somehow.”

The evening reminded me of a conversation I had earlier with Kitch. He said black people don’t care about Smith. I thought he was trippin’, and argued that blacks and whites were both interested. I said everyone wants to know what’s going to happen body, who’s the father of her child, and who would raise her kid. Kitch argued that if it was Lil’ Kim, blacks would pay more attention.

After going to Onyx on Wednesday, I wonder if he’s right. Is there a cultural difference in interest about Smith, and if so, why? Post your response below.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lessons we can all learn from Anna Nicole Smith:

1. Keep your will up-to-date (if you don't have one, GET ONE), and update it if anyone in your family passes away or has a change in status (gets married, has a child, etc.).

2. If you're gonna act like you're married, GET MARRIED. A lot of the problems here stem from the fact that Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K. Stern weren't actually legally married.

3. Know who's your baby's daddy. Pretty self-explanatory.

4. Don't do drugs.

It's too bad that she passed away, but I don't think I'm the only person who's not surprised that it happened.

Anonymous said...

Paid to party? yet another riveting blog on Charlotte nightlife inside of a strip club.

way to go.

MrAfternoon.

Anonymous said...

Some black people were interested in Anna Nicole's death, some weren't. My mom, a friend and I were among those who were interested. Of course, with the media circus her death has circulated, I'm hearing people of all races talk about her...after all, there's a battle over her body, her baby's paternity, her estate...that's something to talk about, right? I don't think those who didn't care about Smith felt that way because she was white...if they didn't pay attention to her when she was living, they didn't feel the need to pay attention to her after she died. I'm sure if it was Lil' Kim, black people probably would have more to say about it, but she's a bigger star in the black community, whereas Anna Nicole wasn't. But to say black people just don't care about Anna Nicole, like Kitch said in your column, is just plain ignorant. A human life is a life, regardless of race. The dancers in the club were probably just jaded or tired of hearing about her. They just wanted to make their money.

Anonymous said...

To say I couldn't care less would overstate how little I care about the passing of Ms. Smith, the state of Brittany's hair or the status of any of the Hilton/Ritchie clan. I feel sad for Ms. Smith's infant offspring.

Beyond that there are much bigger issues amongst the living in this world that are more pressing and pertinent including war, homelessness, pestilence, hunger/famine, racism, sexism and homophobia. The foibles of airheaded, vapid, indulged, blond bimbos is the least of my concerns.

Anonymous said...

You've got it wrong. Most white people don't care about Anna Nicole either. The attention being paid to her is disgusting- all this for a woman with no talent, activism, or decorum. Some people feed on this type of news to entrench themselves in the salacious details, or at best to use her life as a cautionary tale. But make no mistake, most people don't care at all and are weary after all the media attention.

Anonymous said...

Well--Anna Nicole was a media star. She had no real talent and as David said--there are so many other things to care about.
I'm sorry she's dead, but life goes on.

Anonymous said...

From a white, married, 55 y/o male: Smith's passing is very sad, but hardly unexpected. It seems to me she hardly had a fair chance in life, with too many of the wrong sort of people telling her who she had to be.

Her death, however, does NOT deserve the press coverage it's getting.

My biggest concern right now is for the baby. I fear that no one surrounding this child will give her a chance at a normal childhood.

Anonymous said...

Anna Nicole Smith will be imfamous for living like on the edge. She finally fell off the edge. Shame on her so called friends for not stepping in to rescue a woman that was sooooooo lost.