‘Euphoria’ star Sydney Sweeney became a Savage x Fenty Ambassador a few months ago and stops traffic today in this new lingerie campaign. Rihanna’s expected hyper-feminine iridescent caged bra, embroidered bikini and other bon bon treats are a visual extravaganza, even for serious book club readers like us. .
Sweeney reads the classic book ‘Valley of the Dolls', the form of subtle feminist statement we’ve come to expect from the multi-talented superstar. Vice brought another generation up to speed on Jacqueline Susann’s trashy 1966 novel about drug addiction in show business in this 2016 cultural dig. “Fifty years later, its alternative feminist message still rings true,” writes Nathan Smith.
“The book details the lives of three women working in Hollywood and New York and their destructive addiction to prescription pills, or "dolls"—a reference to how they cling to the drugs, the way a child might become inseparable from a cherished toy doll. The watershed work has since entered the popular lexicon, shorthand for the seemingly glamorous destruction of drug addiction.”
The boys club led by Gore Vidal, and Truman Capote totally panned ‘Valley of the Dolls’, turning up the heat on author Jacqueline Susann, saying she looked like a “truck driver in drag” on The Tonight Show. Other critics said Susann must have written her best seller on a “cash register.”
Vice generously provides a key link to a 2000 Vanity Fair article ‘Once Was Never Enough’ about Susann’s life pre and post dolls. She died an early death from breast cancer , saying “Yeah, I think I’ll be remembered . . . as the voice of the 60s . . . Andy Warhol, the Beatles and me.”
Rihanna and Susann
Besides the obvious connection that the drug scene is at play in ‘Euphoria’, with Sydney Sweeney’s character Cassie having lived in Susann’s head, consider also that Rihanna is channeling Susann here. The author’s response to critics of her tacky, talentless self was “Too many male writers are writing for the critics,” she declared. “I write for the public.”
Susann’s feminist success was a precursor to Rihanna’s own self-created success in business, not only the music industry. Riri brings the same “I create for the people” attitude to everything she does. Last week, Rihanna made her debut on ‘The Sunday Times Rich list. Her third place spot on the richest musicians list had her overtaking legends Elton John and Mick Jagger.
On a much smaller scale, Jacqueline Susan enjoyed similar notoriety playing in the boys club. ‘ Valley of the Dolls’ sold 17 million copies by 1974, taking out Truman Capote’s own epic book ‘In Cold Blood.’ The VICE article is very well written ( who is this guy!!!} as a period piece about the 1960s. Read on.
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