“Oh it’s happened again!” this is something you have to read as the cover of any news every now and then. And then it goes to show below and that yet another actress has forgotten to wear any undergarment when she was exiting her limo in front of throngs of paparazzi. What’s the result? Wardrobe Malfunction! This generally gets followed by a ton of publicity for the actor/actresses new song/movie premiere/new season premiere for TV show.
Let’s get honest here for a second and ask this: Are these “malfunctions” just ill-timed accidents or simply calculated ploys to generate some buzz and attention for the said celebrity? Are we getting played for idiots or do celebrities actually fall out of their clothes a lot more often than us?
Take a look back at the New York premiere of “Les Miserables”. For that night, Anne Hathaway got out of her vehicle in such a fashion that flashed to the paparazzi “the Full Hathaway”. And straight away she’s making the headlines. Of course, in Hathaway’s case, it really does seem to be an accident. She told the press back then that she had been devastated by it. And if you look back, she does not have any “tendency” of falling into such predicaments. However, you can think that, since she was exiting her car sans undergarment, she would do so more than a cowboy climbing off a horse. This gets more puzzling since she was being dropped off on the red carpet with paparazzi lining up like piranhas awaiting a piece of meat.
Leave all the doubts behind- being a celebrity in the 21st century is a very tough job. As a celebrity, you have to constantly be in the limelight. If you’re out of sight, you’re out of work. Well, the answer for a bunch of celebrities is quite simple: Do whatever you need to, to stay in the spotlight. “Any press is good press” is the adage that some live by. You won’t have to look far for examples. There are always celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Charlie Sheen or even Kanye West doing something to stay in the spotlight.
Then there are celebrities like Lady Gaga and Rihanna who appear in such outfits on the big occasions that are almost “tailor-made” for wardrobe malfunctions. From see-through blouses to bathing suit tops that are slightly bigger than a 50-cent piece, they have it all ready for that Celebrity Oops moments. When Paris Hilton, the queen of the “accidental expose” flashes her undergarment, in a tiny skirt, she is suddenly back to the top of the headlines. And she doesn’t even have to seek any media attention at all.
With a quick Google search, you will be able to uncover a treasure trove of a lot of celebrity wardrobe malfunctions. It generally depends on what search term you are putting in. And you will be treated to a list of the greatest clothing mishap of your favorite celebrity. You may even say that we live in the age of exposure. The ones you idolize are no longer any mysterious entity. They now may be deemed as fully accessible commodities: dressed, and preened for the entertainment of the crowd. Every small mistake gets photographed, printed and some fans even dissect the whole issue.
It has been more than a decade since Justin Timberlake revealed a small part of Janet Jackson. While Timberlake was able to escape almost all of the blame and culpability, Janet had been cornered by the media. Quite a few sources claim that she could never recover her music career after the Super Bowl incident. And now in 2018, 14 years after the incident, we still know her name. Whether it is due to the incident or not, her musical legacy is regarded highly even today. Jackson released a new album back in 2015 and had been praised by the same media that cornered her for the Super Bowl incident. In fact, she was also nominated for an induction into the “Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame”. Now, the inevitable question is, did that “disastrous” Superbowl wardrobe malfunction actually do any damage? Or did Janet and her “assets” laugh all the way to the bank? It is quite the intriguing thought, one that may have become relevant along the years.
Believe it or not, there are some celebrities who have not resorted to such tricks and still have been relevant for decades! They have stayed famous and have worked continually barring such extra activities. Don’t believe us? Then have you ever heard of Meryl Streep flashing any unnecessary skin on the Letterman show? Or George Clooney accidentally having a part of his anatomy fall out the pants?
There had been just as many viewers who heaped cynicism on Janet’s scandal as there had been critics rushing to denounce Jackson. The fact remains that Timberlake or Janet didn’t look very surprised when he ‘unintentionally’ tore off a part of the bra. Or, why was she wearing a very odd shield that covered most of it, over the exposed body part? This exposure had put Janet on the front of every big newspaper available at that time. Over the years, there have been a lot of forgettable Super Bowl performances, but Jackson’s performance will never be on that list. To be honest, this “moment” that made everyone worldwide gasp, had given birth to a brand new form of culture. This represents the commodification of the human body, in a way that nothing will remain private for these celebrities any longer.
As long as celebrities feel “pressured” to stay in the spotlight, it’s presumable that there will be “malfunctions”, intended or not is a thought up for grabs. By taking the charge of how and exactly when these “malfunctions” will occur, these media savvy celebrities may just turn the tables on the audience even when the audience thinks they have the upper-hand.
