But did they read the papers and talk about the dresses and stuff? Nobody does that now.

I know my father's mother didn't. She was a tomboy who did her best to avoid anything indoors, social, or involving skirts. Which was quite a trick in the 1930s. (She helped start my dad's boy scout troup mostly because she wanted to go camping as a den mother.) And I doubt my mother's mother did, either, from what my mom tells me about her. She didn't see the point of the DAR, I doubt she would have seen the point of debutants.

They were both in Michigan. Maybe the whole debutant thing was less of an issue there. I don't remember ever hearing about that sort of thing when I was growing up, even when listening to my parents' friends talking about their childhoods. (My parents were both born in the 1920s, and their friends were of a similar cohort.)

Maria, from what little I saw of the DC scene, it was downright scary.

I use Netflix to guilt trip myself into watching movies. If I am paying for them to sit on my floor, I might as well pop them in. Lack of timeliness stops being an issue, except during times of extreme busyness/stress.

I thought it was pretty skeptically apparent he was marrying eye candy and she was marrying money. And that was societally endorsed, but I've never heard anything about how in love they are.

I might be biased by a Today Show segment I saw this morning describing it "Wedding of the Year." To me, that felt like cloaking a pretty naked business arrangement in flowers and candy hearts. I haven't studied the media coverage of their relationship in any detail.

I agree, in as much as how well they're known, and/or looked up to, but as far as powerandmoney- that's still class determined.

Agreed -- I was just thinking about the "pictures in the paper and people discussing their dresses" angle.

(And I didn't mean the Roots, did I? Black-Eyed Peas, sorry.)

Ouch! No patronization intended, Jessica. I just sensed that folks were tired of the subject of PPV-vs-Buy-vs-Rent, and was going to move on.

For what is worth, I will continue the argument. Moving things physically is more expensive than moving things digitally.

eta: Crap! Missed your edit.

How can that be (physical > digital)?

I think people are pretty universally cynical wrt to male money getting female beauty. That's been going on for ever, yes?

Why people are famous is different now. Any yokel with a video camera can potentially get on tv. There is an outlet for so much more than there ever has been before.

I was just looking at yearbooks from the 50s and the school had more than double the amount of clubs that we have now. and more people participated in each of the clubs. There were less options for entertainment and activity and so people were concentrated in a few areas.

In the same way, information was concentrated and society news was entertainment news. Media outlets had to cover things in person - you had to be present at an event to get covered and with fewer events to report on, more people got info on the same things. That is why everyone knew who Mrs. Astor was and why her name still hold up with folks like us who would never had any cause or need to know or interact with her.

Moving things physically is more expensive than moving things digitally.

It doesn't matter how expensive it is, Gus. It matters how much margin the companies make -- as bon said too.

serial, perhaps:

To me, that felt like cloaking a pretty naked business arrangement in flowers and candy hearts.

And how is that not whoring, then?

Agreed -- I was just thinking about the "pictures in the paper and people discussing their dresses" angle.

I was thinking more in terms of barriers to moving up socially, not just yourself, but whatever group you identify with be that your family, race or whatever. Money alone doesn't remove those for anyone, but possibly you yourself. You aren't going to bring your group with you without power which you can't just get with only money.

Maria, from what little I saw of the DC scene, it was downright scary.

Sometimes I think I'd feel safer in the African wild. The first thing anyone asks when introduced to someone is, "What do you do?" If the job doesn't have the right cachet or is too many degrees separated from a power source, the offending person is discarded and left to commiserate with the rats.

But did they read the papers and talk about the dresses and stuff? Nobody does that now.

Nope. We watch awards shows and talk about the dresses and stuff.