A bit about Belle - and Billie

[Image: real-life leading lady, striking an inscrutable pose. Go Billie!!]

Hmm...the excuses I find to distract myself from working. Amazing to say the least. Being busy doesn't necessarily involve actual business, on my part, it involves doing things that make sense, albeit not holding a sensible meaning. I like net surfing, for instance, and the sites I frequent aren't always (or usually) very school related. It's not porn, either, but it's completely irrelevant in terms of philosophy and empiric science. Well, maybe not. I'd like to think otherwise. But I've been asked to memorize philosophers, numbers and movements, for which Imdb hardly can be said to constitute a useful source of information, nor is Wikipedia's massive "Doctor Who" section very helpful when it comes to the sociopolitical tendencies of the Englightement Era (although it seems enlightening to me). But, with regard to personal interests, I did come across some interesting news during my breaks of the day. For instance, the fascinating life of one Belle deJour, London call girl. That is a course of events worth mentioning, for it started off on a rather different basis than what you'd believe. I was checking Norwegian gossip sites, when all of a sudden, an image of Billie Piper in "Secret Diary" popped up on my screen. Big headlines; detailed article and spoilers underneath; somewhat unusual for a country that seems to have no interest, whatsoever, in "Doctor Who" or Billie or even David. However, the words "sex" and "major sucess overseas" had got them all attentive. It turned out that the site in question, seher.no, is stealing without bonds or hesitation from the British tabloids - of which I, to their disadvantage, am an active reader. So, I soon discovered just where they'd taken their "breaking news story" from. Literally cut, paste and translate; pretty disgusting. Still: to see Billie Piper's name mentioned in a purely domestic setting is bizarre, yet also very amusing. And the context was of course this "shocking" new TV series of hers - including racy screen cap's and everything, they'd done proper research - which NRK (hopefully!) will be tempted to purchase the rights for, sometime soon. In any case, after this they do know about it, in case they'll find themselves interested. I would have preferred a slightly different angle to the big story, however, since their main focus was on Billie's knickers (or lack of such) and her nomination for the Best Softcore Production award - which is no real compliment to this talented actress. Fortunately, they did manage to label her "the beautiful" and cite her wise statements about the porn business and playing Belle (all being correctly translated, too, for a change!) as a substantiating contrast to the whole "actress stripping off and being seductive"-thing. Which they were also mighty concerned about. (Together with everyone else, to be fair; since this role is somewhat deviating from that of Billie's previous one, as Rose, who was sweet is sugar and looks awkwardly innocent in comparison.) My real interest, on the other hand, was further awakened near the very end of the article, where the writer had posted a link to the actual Belle deJour Blog which I must admit I hadn't read that properly, beforehand, but now had the chance to check out. So, whilst I was supposed to dive deeper into the world of Hume, Kuhn and their likes, I was in reality skimming through the anonymous call girl's diaries and excellent writings about her daily routines in the English capitol. Her work, her boyfriends, her sexual habits. Quite outrageous and free-spoken, quite controversial at times and liberal enough to appall even the most tolerant of us. But her style is funny and easy-read; she appears to be a normal, above-average intelligent woman with a sophisticated language and recognizable problems, and I find it fascinating to get a sneak peek into this usually not-so-fachionable career. Remarkably so. Plus, some of her sharp-penned, witty phrases are just absolutely fabulous; like that one angry post about a severely tactless ex-boyfriend, where she said - and I quote: "Fuck perspective. Some men really are life support systems for their cocks." Made my day. Now, ordinary folks probably find it a bit astounding to be faced with very precise descriptions of demanding clients and how to perform blow jobs. That doesn't make it any less exciting, though, because we are indeed tempted by the extreme and out-of-the-ordinary, especially when it's portrayed in such a direct, brutally honest manner. It's not just entertainment - not at all, in fact - it's grim and emotionally upsetting, but Belle still keeps her cool and doesn't try to seem politically correct. She gives us both sides of the truth; the glamorous, well-paid one as well as the lingering moments of regret. You're not convinced to like or support her business; the way I see it, she rather provides some room for discussion. In order to make up your mind, it first needs to be set straight - and for that you need inside information, right? More than what the biased newspapers and magazines have to offer. That's how I can deal with writers like Belle deJour; I think we need to be familiar with her experiences, to consider her situation or that of call girls in general. Despite the fact that many won't admit to reading this, there's no discussing Belle's popularity; her delicate and discreet homepage is one of the most visited sites hosted by Blogger.com. Strange that I've never been aware of this before; nice to finally know what the fuss is about. Regardless how you view the message she's spreading. I doubt my blog will ever obtain a circle of readers that large, or the same kind of public attention, although that might actually be for the best. I wouldn't want for people to go identity hunting, trying to figure out exactly who disguises herself behind the alias of Scaramouche. Especially because it's no disguise, it's my name. My other name, but it's me, and that's what counts. There's just one Scara, and she's not ashamed of her true self! And now, all I have to do is by the book which derived from Belle's Blog writing. That should be a fine tale for the holidays, don't you think? Along with the DVD, lol. A new and dirty me - apparently!