A $250,000 Manicure. Enviable or Irresponsible ???

[robberbaron4u]

Miss Osbourne does serve to amuse in her aspiration to "good taste". Nonetheless, given the "hard times" in which we find ourselves in which want is rampant, she, herself, is an exercise in "poor taste" in this particular instance.

[bigvalboy]

I went back and read all the postings about Kelly Osbourne's manicure and according to one of her semi-literate "tweets" she said that "she did not pay for it, but was lucky enough to be selected/chosen to wear it...."

 

If in fact she paid nothing for the manicure, she is only guilty of flaunting a very, very expensive service available apparently to super-rich consumers. I know almost nothing about this young woman, except what I've read here, but obviously if she is hosting a red-carpet event, she is being paid by someone and if part of her compensation is showing off this obscene manicure, is that so different than celebrities wearing very expensive couture clothing on the red carpet and being asked "Who are you wearing?" Or the same celebrities wearing hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars worth of jewelry to the same events? Whether they own them or not, is irrelevant. The clothes and the bling ARE for sale, right?

 

I'll reiterate, in different words, what I said in a previous post: there will always, in every society, be people who can afford luxuries which most of the population cannot. If all status symbols are somehow magically eliminated, don't you think humans will come up with something to distinguish the "few" from the "many"?

 

I'm old enough to remember Elizabeth Taylor's fondness for baubles which the 99% could never purchase but I don't remember hearing criticism of her for having them--she and Richard Burton may have been chastised by the Roman Catholic pontiff for their sexual mores, but not their wealth.

 

Philosophers and ethicists have struggled with this question since time immemorial and as far as I know, there has been no definitive answer. Somewhere in the Bible it says that it is difficult for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and makes a comparison to a camel passing through the eye of a needle, but it doesn't say that it is impossible. I'm not comfortable judging anyone for what they spend money purchasing--far too guilty of not always being wise myself.

 

 

Articulately stated....and well thought out.

[BSR]

Even in Castro's Cuba, where the ruling communists have succeeded in creating a statist "utopia" in which every Cuban is equally poor, except of course the elite of Castro's regime, who live in (relative) lavish comfort, Cubans covet status symbols. But instead of million-dollar diamonds or Aston Martins, the height of luxury in Cuba is more likely a pair of Nike sneakers, which sell for about a hundred bucks (mind you, the average Cuban salary is $10/month). Regardless of the time or place, human nature will never change.

 

Has anybody ever considered the possibility that the quarter-million-dollar manicure is a publicity stunt? Sure, the salon which comped Kelly's manicure can say it costs $250,000, just like I can say that the drinking glass (got it from Target, IIRC) next to my laptop costs a billion dollars. That doesn't mean I'll ever sell it for that price. But I'm sure that the salon received gobs of publicity, worth far more than the cost of the comped manicure, black diamonds and all. Since women must re-do their manicures about once a week, at most once every two weeks, I can't imagine the salon will ever get a single quarter-million dollar sucker, er, client. But the whirlwind of publicity will likely attract customers willing to pay a C-note+ for their more "down-to-earth" options.

 

Am I outraged that Kelly Osborne is flaunting a manicure allegedly (cough) worth $250K? Not in the least, but it baffles me that others get their blood pressure so elevated about the self-indulgences of the ultra-rich. Move the decimal point over a few places, and I'm guessing almost every single one of the ever-so-outraged has spent a big chunk of change on a self-indulgence (an overnight with an escort, just as an example), which in relative terms costs the outraged-champion-of-social-justice a lot more than a Rolls-Royce would cost a billionaire. Oh, of course this champion of social justice goes on and on about sensitivity and compassion toward others, even though it's kinda sorta obvious the social justice superhero cares only about himself ... (sigh) ... Envy is never pretty.

[jjkrkwood]

Miss Osbourne does serve to amuse in her aspiration to "good taste". Nonetheless, given the "hard times" in which we find ourselves in which want is rampant, she, herself, is an exercise in "poor taste" in this particular instance.

 

Exactly MY point.... Thank you Robber...