Leave it to 60 Minutes to suddenly discover Anna Wintour, profiled last night after she’s been editing Vogue for 22 years…and they say "old media" is irrelevant! Why, here was correspondent Morley Safer getting to the bottom of those decades-long rumors that surround Wintour. What about those sunglasses she wears so often in public? They’re her "armor," she said — oh, she can see out, but we can’t see in! What clever contraptions these dark glasses be, ye olde 60 Minutes discovered! And what about Wintour’s reputation for being chilly and distant? Safer got her to admit she could be cold and brusque — or as she pronounced the word, "broooosk."
But although it claims to commit journalism, 60 Minutes failed to follow a basic rule: the Wintour profile lacked a peg, a timely reason for being. (Unless I missed it, there was no mention of the recent Vogue/Wintour documentary, The September Issue.) Was it some sort of Vogue anniversary? No. Was the joint going out of business? No, not to hear it from the way Safer spoke of the fashion mag printing "up to 800 pages per issue" and touting Wintour’s "rumored $200,000 clothing allowance." It was as though Morley Safer’s rascally postman had finally delivered that NetFlix copy of 2006′s The Devil Wears Prada, and Safer — Gabby Hayes with a pocket handkerchief — cackled, "By cracky, you mean there’s a real-life lady this thing was based on? Get a posse and some rope: we’ll string her up!"
And so the venerable (well, long-running, anyway) TV newsmagazine tried all its tricks, such as putting the camera so close to Wintour’s face, I feared that if she batted her eyelashes at Safer (and believe me, he was angling for a little flirty-flirty), she might have scratched the 60 Minutes lens.
Yes, because she’s so withholding, Wintour exerts a certain eternal curiosity in the fashion and media worlds. That’s why quotes about her "armor" were popping up on the Internet in the week leading up to this week’s Minutes profile. Seeing that Wintour was one tough nut to crack — a walnut with bangs, to be precise — he went into fall-back mode, which was film a lot of young designers and then do voiceovers with zingers like "some might think [they] need a better tailor." Stop, stop, my sides are hurting from your hilarious social commentary, Morley!
To be sure, 15 minutes on Anna Wintour is better than any random season of America’s Next Top Model, but…well, wait a second:
No, it’s not.
Did you watch? What did you think? Do you read fashion magazines? Do you pronounce "brusque" "brooooosk"? If so, please get into an elevator with Anna Wintour immediately. She so desires your company…
Well, about that dress Ms. Wintour wore at the NY fund raiser. It was a great joke, n’est pas? You were puting us on, eh? That was the tackiest, most unflattering female form covering since Ms. Obama’s inauguration evening frock.
If that’s the future you see for Vogue . . . turn it over to someone who still has their sight intact.
As a lover of TV and an aspiring entertainment journalist, I always find Ken Tucker’s blogs a little off, as if he never fully gets it or doesn’t analyze what he’s watching closely enough. I come to these sites for an opinion I can respect, but at times I feel like I’m abashedly reading perezhilton.
I read that Morley Safer knew Anna Wintour’s father, and when she first decided she was interested in media, Morley took her to lunch and discussed the ins and outs of the business. This interview was “payback” for that original help her gave her those many years ago.
I thought the interview was interesting. There were more video clips on the 60 minutes website.
I think it was a topical, it probably coincided with the release of the film about her. There was a film at Sundance ’09 – the name escapes me…
So the old farts running 60 minutes suddenly realized (three years after the fact) that the Queen B in the Devil Wears Prada is based on Anna Wintour? Smooth. Future shows on 60 minutes will include an expose on this internet fad and chatty rooms.
Jay, the Sundance film was a Vogue documentary entitled “The September Issue”.
Ken, I do think there was a peg here, similar to the big corporate payouts during our recession – how will Anna Wintour’s lavish lifestyle and other fashion high rollers fare during these tough economic times? Will Conde Nast keep Wintour on a pedestal? Time will tell. (If EW doesn’t.)
My guess? Wintour, normally press shy and rumored to be on her way out at Vogue, had a publicist put the thing together to generate some buzz.
Used to be 60 Minutes would get their best stories from a lawyer suing a big corporation – now its a publicist flacking a book or client.
Gary Marquat, it’s n’est-ce pas. I’ve gotta say, 60 Minutes is getting more and more irrelevant when it comes to pop culture. A few weeks ago they profiled Coldplay like they were this upstart young band instead of a group that had been around for 10 years. They gave Bruce Springsteen the same treatment a few years ago. When 60 Minutes covers politics, scientific breakthroughs and the like, they’re peerless. But when it comes to pop culture, they’re a bunch of old fuddyduddies.
The commentary was terrible. He apparently has no interest in fashion or Wintour and his attempts at irony and humor were injected in the wrong places at the wrog moments. 60 Minutes needs new staff; Renaissance types who will be able to report on political affairs and culture with authority and finesse. I truly miss Ed Bradley.
I just saw the movie and it is excellent. Streep is amazing. Its about time they interviewed her, she is a legend! http://www.datingcutesingles.com/
I enjoyed the 60 mins interview with Ms. Wintour…it just solidified how sad I feel for her. She is an expert at what she does but I don’t believe any ONE person should have so much power over the lives and careers of others. What 60 mins showed is the surface of the tip of the iceberg. Hope she one day finds what happiness really is.
Two comments: (1) what an egocentric woman she must be to think that Oprah lost weight just because Wintour suggested it; (2) She has it exactly backwards when she said (referring to photoshopping)”That if you look wonderful, does that make you less important? Less powerful? Less serious?”. I have to ask, if you look like your natural self, does that make you less important? Less powerful? Less serious?!
‘brooske’ is the correct pronunciation…how on earth would you pronounce it? brusk?
To Natural Beauty: Oprah already confirmed that she lost the weight because Anna suggested it. Vogue is a big deal and Opes wanted to make it a good cover.
May 24, 2009
SUGGESTED STORY
Please forward to the appropriate person for further review.
Facing surgery? The !st question should be to check if the hospital uses the newest technology.
Surgicount Medical is a wholly owned subsidiary of PATIENT SAFETY TECHNOLOGY (PSTX). This company has a solution to PREVENTING A SPONGE FROM BEING LEFT INSIDE A PATIENT DURING SURGERY.
RETAINED SPONGES HAPPEN TO A PATIENT IN 1 OUT OF 5 OR 6,000 SURGERIES. This new technology cuts out the costs of lawsuits to Doctors and Hospitals, but most importantly the pain and suffering due to NO sponge left behind in surgery. This preventable event is changing the way sponges are counted during surgery. Surgicount’s BARCODED SPONGES HAVE BEEN USED IN OVER 300,000 OPERATIONS (6 MILLION SPONGES) WITHOUT INCIDENCE.
ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, SOME OF THE TOP TEACHING HOSPITALS HAVE TESTED AND VALIDATED THE SAFETY SPONGE WITHOUT INCIDENCE. THE REAL BONUS HERE IS – MACHINES DON’T GET TIRED – DON’T GO ON LUNC