"If you've looked at all the glamour magazines lately, all the covers are actresses. If they are on those covers, they are going to try to emulate models. That's just the way it is"
About this Quote
A quiet indictment hides inside what sounds like a shrug. Portia de Rossi starts with an observation anyone can verify at a checkout line: actresses now dominate the glossy real estate once reserved for professional models. But she’s really describing a cultural feedback loop where fame doesn’t just sell beauty ideals, it standardizes them. When actresses become the face of fashion, the job description subtly changes. They’re not only expected to perform on screen; they’re expected to compete in an industry built to measure bodies, not craft.
The line “That’s just the way it is” does double duty. On the surface, it’s a realist’s surrender, a nod to how relentless the image machine can be. Underneath, it’s a critique of how inevitability gets manufactured. Calling it “just the way it is” names the most effective part of the system: its ability to present choices as natural law. No villain required, no single editor to blame; just a market logic that turns aspiration into obligation.
Context matters here because de Rossi has spoken publicly about disordered eating and the pressure to look a certain way in Hollywood. Her point isn’t that actresses are vain; it’s that visibility comes with a trapdoor. The more you’re seen, the more you’re asked to conform to a narrow silhouette that reads as “camera-ready,” “cover-worthy,” “bankable.” The subtext is bleakly practical: even the winners of the fame game can’t opt out of its aesthetic rules, because the cover isn’t just a reward. It’s a contract.
The line “That’s just the way it is” does double duty. On the surface, it’s a realist’s surrender, a nod to how relentless the image machine can be. Underneath, it’s a critique of how inevitability gets manufactured. Calling it “just the way it is” names the most effective part of the system: its ability to present choices as natural law. No villain required, no single editor to blame; just a market logic that turns aspiration into obligation.
Context matters here because de Rossi has spoken publicly about disordered eating and the pressure to look a certain way in Hollywood. Her point isn’t that actresses are vain; it’s that visibility comes with a trapdoor. The more you’re seen, the more you’re asked to conform to a narrow silhouette that reads as “camera-ready,” “cover-worthy,” “bankable.” The subtext is bleakly practical: even the winners of the fame game can’t opt out of its aesthetic rules, because the cover isn’t just a reward. It’s a contract.
Quote Details
| Topic | Movie |
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