"I'm working my way toward divinity"
About this Quote
"Im working my way toward divinity" lands like a perfectly timed Midler wink: half affirmation, half send-up of the whole idea that anyone - especially a loud, aging, famously human performer - could polish themselves into something sacred. Coming from Bette Midler, the line reads less like a spiritual confession and more like a showbiz truth dressed up as theology. Divinity here isnt a halo; its a career-long construction project.
The intent is self-mythmaking, but with insulation against arrogance. Midler has always traded in big persona: the Divine Miss M, the bathhouse star turned mainstream fixture, the woman who can belt sincerity and camp in the same breath. Saying shes "working" toward divinity keeps it scrappy and comic. The subtext: transcendence isnt bestowed; its rehearsed. You earn it through survival, reinvention, and a willingness to be ridiculous in public.
Context matters because Midlers brand is built on mixing reverence and irreverence. In celebrity culture, women are punished for wanting greatness and punished again for aging out of the roles that confer it. This line flips that script: she claims the right to evolve upward, but frames it as labor, not entitlement. Its also a quiet jab at the industries that treat stars as disposable gods. If divinity is possible, its not because the audience canonizes you; its because you keep showing up, turning damage into material, and refusing to shrink.
The intent is self-mythmaking, but with insulation against arrogance. Midler has always traded in big persona: the Divine Miss M, the bathhouse star turned mainstream fixture, the woman who can belt sincerity and camp in the same breath. Saying shes "working" toward divinity keeps it scrappy and comic. The subtext: transcendence isnt bestowed; its rehearsed. You earn it through survival, reinvention, and a willingness to be ridiculous in public.
Context matters because Midlers brand is built on mixing reverence and irreverence. In celebrity culture, women are punished for wanting greatness and punished again for aging out of the roles that confer it. This line flips that script: she claims the right to evolve upward, but frames it as labor, not entitlement. Its also a quiet jab at the industries that treat stars as disposable gods. If divinity is possible, its not because the audience canonizes you; its because you keep showing up, turning damage into material, and refusing to shrink.
Quote Details
| Topic | Faith |
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