July 23rd – No matter how many good people there
are in the room, it only takes one, one nutter, one greedy, selfish,
intellectually challenged nutter…and the world’s full of them; I mean, who do
you think is running the countries of the world these days, St Peter? They sell
arms, drugs, diamonds, oil, gold, anything that can be classed as a commodity
and they’ll sell to the highest bidder, whoever, wherever and whenever; no
scruples, no conscience, no comeback. Who are these people?
Margaret Thatcher’s son, Mark, was and is one such. Still a
baron (ask why) still moving in the highest of circles (ask why) he’s been dealing
in arms and coups, carving out a living from other people’s tragedies for years,
and often with his mother’s blessing and support; such a role model, both.
Mooshi Bin Shamsher and Adnan Khashoggi are two others you may be familiar
with, them being in the news every now and then over arms deals and various
questionable practices. No matter how hard the peacekeepers work, no matter how
many meetings at the highest level are conducted there will always be one or
other of folk like these willing to fuck it all up for a dollar bill. How to
recognise? Well trust me, you know you’ve walked into a troubled
acquaintanceship when you discover your acquaintance wears diamonds in their
shoes…
Vanessa L. Williams could/should have expected better
treatment when she became Miss America
back in 1983. As the first African/American winner of said title (she is of
African/European parentage) she would have expected no more or less than all
other winners; a year in the title, a great opportunity to represent her kind,
to promote fairness and charity and a chance to spearhead a drive for a level
playing field for all races, all backgrounds in all disciplines.
However, instead of being able to pleasurably plough her way
through streams of fan mail and letters of support, for the first time in
pageant history, she was subjected to death threats and hate mail. The piece de
résistance came when she was informed that nude photos of her would be
published in a glamour magazine. I know what you’re thinking but that’s not it.
To his credit, Hugh Hefner, the publisher of Playboy, who had been offered the photos (B&W’s of Ms. Williams
before she entered and won the title) had refused them saying;
‘Vanessa Williams is a
beautiful woman. There was never any question of our interest in the photos,
but they clearly weren’t authorized and because they would be the source of
considerable embarrassment to her, we decided not to publish them. We were also
mindful that she was the first black Miss America
Well, there’s a turn-up.
So, now we have our roomful of folk (friends and family and
the entourage of Miss Williams) and also including one of the most influential
glamour publishers in the world all doing the right thing. Enter the shit in
the breakfast cereal; Bob Guccione, publisher of Penthouse.;
‘Do you want the
photos?’ “You betcha!” ‘Will you publish?’ “You betcha!”
Good, now you can look forward to your $14m dollar addition to
you bank account (off-shore of course). It was the photographer, Tom Chiapel,
who’d taken the shots, without Miss Williams’ permission or knowledge, so my
guess is he couldn’t believe his luck when she took the title; pay-day! No
record exists (oh, really?) of how much Guccione paid for the shots (a lot less
than $14m dollars, I’ll bet) but his act caused Vanessa Williams to give up her
Miss America title and crown early and another equality stumbling block was
placed in the way of all who came after (three steps forward-two back).
Chaipel’s part in this whole affair is a grubby and unpleasant
look under the rocks in brokephotographer
canyon. Let’s just hope nothing but bad came of it.
As for Miss Williams? She found success in the music biz,
selling 16 million records, gaining 15 Grammy Nominations and winning three
Grammy Awards, done theatre and film work of some note and Emmy nominations for
her TV work. Good on y’, lass. That’s a bullet up the arse of the nutter in the
room.
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