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My second party of the week was one I was helping to host. I was not involved in the planning, but I did have the privilege of cleaning, working, etc. It was a celebrity red carpet event that my boss was giving at my store. It was billed as a charity event, but the point was to have an extravaganza to get publicity. The preparations alone were staggering. I always thought that having a party was supposed to be fun, but this was not fun at all. If this party had a mathematical formula it would have been this: celebrities + press = success. The focus was in having the type of party that a celebrity would want to attend. This meant a red carpet for them to walk on in their Jimmy Choo shoes and photo opportunities. If it was worthy of the red carpet, it needed party planners, themes and expensive preparations. The way to get celebrities to the party was to promise that it was an honor to be invited, other celebrities would be there, photographers would be there, exciting gift bags would be given, and free alcohol and food would be served. The fact that it was for a charity was barely mentioned. On the night of the party, I was surprised that I did not know who most of the guests were. There were a lot of “stars” from the WB and UPN networks, as well as some reality television show personalities. It gave me the odd feeling of seeing someone with whom I went to high school. You know the weird feeling that you think you know someone? If you were to talk with them, you would realize that they were in your 10th grade math class or something. I think that I maybe thought I knew them but just saw a preview for a TV show they were on once. There were a couple of bigger stars attending that I won’t mention out of fear of being sued for libel. I will say that out of 150 “celebrities” who attended, four of them were incredibly nice and down to earth. The rest of them couldn’t wait to leave after the obligatory pictures and gift bags. I found out that gift bags usually have gift certificates, fun and trendy items, and a few gifts for the guests. For this party, we had two sets of gift bags—a normal gift bag and an A-list bag. Of course, the Hollywood hierarchy decided that the bigger stars got the nicer bags. I cannot understand the idea of giving free stuff to people who are rich and famous. Why not give a gift certificate for a massage to a poor single mother who has never had one before? Why not give a gift certificate to a trendy restaurant to a homeless person who has not had a decent meal in ages? We were giving gifts to people that could buy almost anything they wanted, and they not only took them but felt entitled to them. I’ve always heard that the more one has the more people want to give. Banks want to lend you money when you already have lots of it, but they won’t give it to you when you are poor and need it. The gift giving in Hollywood is not really giving because it is expecting something in return. What I learned last week was that a Hollywood party is not party but a business event. It has nothing to do with friendship and celebration and everything to do with money and power. It is not genuine, and I will only go to another one if it involves a real friend of mine. I think a party should be fun for the people attending and for the people giving it. If a party is not fun, it’s work. Then it’s not really a party, is it? AUTHOR: Jennifer Ellis  TAGS: Entertainment money rich School Love celebrity BOOKMARK: Digg it | Add to Del.ICIO | Add to FARK ACTIONS: Comment Save Print Register free acount  |
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