Domestic Diva Martha Stewart released in style: Who says crime doesn’t pay!
Media reports are glorifying Martha Stewart’s release from prison as if it were the news event of the new millennium. This mogul of domesticity was released hours ago from her Camp Cupcake prison after serving 5 months for lying to federal authorities about her role in a stock scam.
So, why is she being feted when most other felons slink out of their cells and into obscurity as social pariahs? The answer seems tied to America’s amoral fascination with celebrity and wealth. And Martha went into the pokey with both in absurd amounts and, remarkably, and is coming out with her celebrity and wealth multiplied 3 times:
While in prison her popularity soared, her stocks increased in value from 200 million to over 1 billion dollars and she signed lucrative deals for 2 new TV programs that, despite his denials, made even Donald Trump green with envy.
How was this possible?
It was perpetrated by an open media conspiracy to make Martha the Mother Teresa of white collar criminals; perhaps because they perceive her as one of their own (Martha Stewart Living Omni(Media) Inc.). But whatever the case, this media conspiracy glorified all things Martha and (white)-washed the stains on her ruthless reputation from the fickle minds of American investors. In short order, Martha was no longer the boss from hell – so cheap she would cheat her gardener out of a buck; instead, she became the mother superior of inmates whose mission in life was to improve prison conditions and work release programs for her fellow thieves, drug mules and prostitutes….And, her stock prices soared with every sanctifying mention of her name.
Imagine that! Making over 800 million dollars in 5 months from prison for doing nothing but writing letters and cleaning toilets.
O Martha full of grace…
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Les says
If Martha Stewart isn’t cunning and calculating then her advisors must be. She knew exactly what incarceration would do for her image and purse, otherwise she would have awaited the outcome of her appeal. She played the media game well, and mediamanics desperate for ratings took her celebrity status to another level. Some role model! I was nurtured under the old fashioned value system…my parents taught us that “a liar is a thief”.
The contradiction and hypocrisy of American society continue to astound me. Today, Martha’s return to work prioritised the newscast of the NBC Early Today Show. It was followed by the ‘shameless publicity stunt’ of Michael Goddard at the Art Expo in New York. This was none other than his Go-Go Dancer. There was an outcry to have her removed. Tell me, what were they protesting? The loud music or the gyrations of a half clad dancer? Which offended their sensibilities?
What hypocrisy!!!
Anonymous says
Can it be that the attitude towards Martha’s ‘triumphant’ return is consistent with the American culture of supporting the underdog? Contrary you might say, since this is a billionaire. But wasn’t she vilified by the same media before her inprisonment? The same press who have been talking ad nauseam of her return as ‘making a come back?’I mean, the picture of her on the cover of Newsweek was discussed because of the photo enhancements not criticized for the lauded return to society of a convicted felon which, by American puritanical standards,could send the wrong signal to young impressionable minds. The same minds that were tarnished by Clinton’s personal misbehaviour or Janet Jackson’s tube boob. But then again, Martha is living testimony of the American dream and we can’t let that die, can we?
C