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It's only natural that William Hague should be starstruck by Angelina Jolie It's only natural that William Hague should be starstruck by Angelina Jolie
(35 minutes later)
Poor William Hague, the now rather cross half of Will.i.ange or Willangelina or rather Dame Angelague. Just this week, the foreign secretary was co-chairing the international summit on sexual violence in war with Hollywood movie star Angelina Jolie, enjoying some A-list celebrity prestige and dynamic international policy-making. Now he's being criticised on air by the BBC's John Humphrys for being "starstruck", allegedly neglecting the Iraqi situation while he sucks up to a film star. He denied it. But in an age when everyone routinely says we are far too in hock to celeb culture, there could be no more humiliating charge.Poor William Hague, the now rather cross half of Will.i.ange or Willangelina or rather Dame Angelague. Just this week, the foreign secretary was co-chairing the international summit on sexual violence in war with Hollywood movie star Angelina Jolie, enjoying some A-list celebrity prestige and dynamic international policy-making. Now he's being criticised on air by the BBC's John Humphrys for being "starstruck", allegedly neglecting the Iraqi situation while he sucks up to a film star. He denied it. But in an age when everyone routinely says we are far too in hock to celeb culture, there could be no more humiliating charge.
It was probably those unfortunate photos that did it for Hague: the ones showing him, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie striding three-abreast into a lobby wearing black suits from what seemed like the same designer. It looked like they were having their Reservoir Dogs or Ocean's Eleven moment. In the words of Sacha Baron Cohen's fashion journalist Brüno, Hague, Pitt and Jolie were very "matchy-matchy". They say politics is showbusiness for ugly people, and in that showbizzy lineup it wasn't hard to spot the politician. So what happens now? Could it be that now Angelina has got her damehood, Hague will find that she is not returning his calls? It is a situation to which only David Hare's pen could do justice.It was probably those unfortunate photos that did it for Hague: the ones showing him, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie striding three-abreast into a lobby wearing black suits from what seemed like the same designer. It looked like they were having their Reservoir Dogs or Ocean's Eleven moment. In the words of Sacha Baron Cohen's fashion journalist Brüno, Hague, Pitt and Jolie were very "matchy-matchy". They say politics is showbusiness for ugly people, and in that showbizzy lineup it wasn't hard to spot the politician. So what happens now? Could it be that now Angelina has got her damehood, Hague will find that she is not returning his calls? It is a situation to which only David Hare's pen could do justice.
Of course Hague was starstruck. There's no shame in it. No self-respecting sophisticate admits to being impressed by celebrity, of course, but it is almost a physiological impossibility not to be starstruck when meeting someone whose face is usually up on a big screen, and in whose identity you have, without entirely realising it, been making some kind of imaginative investment for years. He will himself have had the pleasurable experience of star-striking people: awed constituency workers, passersby in shopping malls, Conservative officials on the rubber chicken circuit. The foreign secretary's offices, far grander than anything in Number 10, are there to star-strike visiting dignitaries, dating from an era when our empire was bigger than Hollywood.Of course Hague was starstruck. There's no shame in it. No self-respecting sophisticate admits to being impressed by celebrity, of course, but it is almost a physiological impossibility not to be starstruck when meeting someone whose face is usually up on a big screen, and in whose identity you have, without entirely realising it, been making some kind of imaginative investment for years. He will himself have had the pleasurable experience of star-striking people: awed constituency workers, passersby in shopping malls, Conservative officials on the rubber chicken circuit. The foreign secretary's offices, far grander than anything in Number 10, are there to star-strike visiting dignitaries, dating from an era when our empire was bigger than Hollywood.
Tony Blair was intensely starstruck by Bill Clinton and George W Bush and the erotic display of political power in the White House: the sleek limos, the motorcycle outriders, the press conferences. Like members of the general public who have met the Potus, Blair will have felt the intoxicating laser-focus of a president's attention directed entirely and flatteringly his way. The late Alan Clark, diarist and Tory MP, used to say that Margaret Thatcher would exert this stardust, and that people would be woozy with her Führer Kontakt, provocatively reviving a hideous Nazi-era word for the stunning experience of actually meeting Adolf Hitler.Tony Blair was intensely starstruck by Bill Clinton and George W Bush and the erotic display of political power in the White House: the sleek limos, the motorcycle outriders, the press conferences. Like members of the general public who have met the Potus, Blair will have felt the intoxicating laser-focus of a president's attention directed entirely and flatteringly his way. The late Alan Clark, diarist and Tory MP, used to say that Margaret Thatcher would exert this stardust, and that people would be woozy with her Führer Kontakt, provocatively reviving a hideous Nazi-era word for the stunning experience of actually meeting Adolf Hitler.
StarstruckStarstruck
Meeting the famous has changed. It used to be that people asked for autographs. Now celebs get papped by fans with mobile phones, or get asked for joint selfies with people who have a tiny sense of their own micro-fame on social media. Yet, in fact, these people are not "starstruck" in the full sense of the word. They think it's a great laugh to meet the famous person; they have a clear sense of the difference between their Twitter following-number and, say, Katy Perry's. Everyone knows their place. The dangerously "starstruck" person is someone who for some reason gets to chat with the A-lister on quasi-equal terms: the digital media executive, the charity CEO, the friend of the producer, the foreign secretary, people who for a fraction of a second entertain the notion of some kind of relationship. (It is the basis of Richard Curtis's classic romcom Notting Hill.)Meeting the famous has changed. It used to be that people asked for autographs. Now celebs get papped by fans with mobile phones, or get asked for joint selfies with people who have a tiny sense of their own micro-fame on social media. Yet, in fact, these people are not "starstruck" in the full sense of the word. They think it's a great laugh to meet the famous person; they have a clear sense of the difference between their Twitter following-number and, say, Katy Perry's. Everyone knows their place. The dangerously "starstruck" person is someone who for some reason gets to chat with the A-lister on quasi-equal terms: the digital media executive, the charity CEO, the friend of the producer, the foreign secretary, people who for a fraction of a second entertain the notion of some kind of relationship. (It is the basis of Richard Curtis's classic romcom Notting Hill.)
In his New Yorker profile of George Clooney, Ian Parker describes the star's compassionate sense of how people meeting him may freak and make fools of themselves ("star-strike-out" perhaps) and how he finds ways of giving them a tactful exit strategy from the encounter. "'Your job is to find the best way for those people to hold on to their dignity,' he explained to me. 'For a second, they have thrown it out.' … As Clooney described it, they have to be shown a path back to their normal selves. "I'm sorry to say, however, that Clooney did not feel a great need to finesse the situation and show me the path back to my normal self when I met him at a Bafta party a couple of years ago. The handshake happened; that legendary face was presented inches from mine in a very charming grin, and then while my head was still going Boinggggg he just vanished. In his New Yorker profile of George Clooney, Ian Parker describes the star's compassionate sense of how people meeting him may freak and make fools of themselves ("star-strike-out" perhaps) and how he finds ways of giving them a tactful exit strategy from the encounter. "'Your job is to find the best way for those people to hold on to their dignity,' he explained to me. 'For a second, they have thrown it out.' … As Clooney described it, they have to be shown a path back to their normal selves.
I'm sorry to say, however, that Clooney did not feel a great need to finesse the situation and show me the path back to my normal self when I met him at a Bafta party a couple of years ago. The handshake happened; that legendary face was presented inches from mine in a very charming grin, and then while my head was still going Boinggggg he just vanished.
Well, perhaps Dame Angelina did not see any reason to show Hague a path back to his normal self until he had helped her with a cause that she passionately believed in. She used her celebrity to a purpose. Princess Diana did the same.Well, perhaps Dame Angelina did not see any reason to show Hague a path back to his normal self until he had helped her with a cause that she passionately believed in. She used her celebrity to a purpose. Princess Diana did the same.
Starstruck is how the system works. Starstruck is how the movie world goes round: it's the dilithium crystal powering the Enterprise. People are impressed by movie stars. Big names are attached. Stars sell the film before and after it gets made; they may make appearances to potential investors. Their involvement persuades talented technicians and others to get involved, perhaps at a lower rate than usual.Starstruck is how the system works. Starstruck is how the movie world goes round: it's the dilithium crystal powering the Enterprise. People are impressed by movie stars. Big names are attached. Stars sell the film before and after it gets made; they may make appearances to potential investors. Their involvement persuades talented technicians and others to get involved, perhaps at a lower rate than usual.
Getting starstruck can be a painful business. But Hague can comfort himself with one thought. Like it or not, he is a bigger star than the snarky British journalists giving him a hard time.Getting starstruck can be a painful business. But Hague can comfort himself with one thought. Like it or not, he is a bigger star than the snarky British journalists giving him a hard time.