Paris Hilton wants you to like her. Really. The starlet and paparazzi target has a new reality show, "The World According to Paris." The aim of the show is clear: to change Paris's image and make her a more likable celebrity.
Unfortunately for Paris, that goal might be more lofty than she initially thought. According to early reviews, the billionaire Barbie comes off as a bit of a jerk on the Oxygen series, which premieres Wednesday night.
Entertainment Weekly gives the new series a D, and notes that, unlike Kim Kardashian's "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," Paris's new show "fails to deliver any frothy fun and the star comes across as completely unlikable." That failure may have to do with Paris's "inane voice-over narrations" in which she says things like doing community service "really sucks."
The comparison to Kim is inevitable. As longtime followers of pop culture may remember, the two were, once upon a time, best friends. In fact, Kim was just a sidekick. But in recent years, Kim's star power has far eclipsed Paris's, thanks in large part to her (relatively) likable personality.
Alessandra Stanley, critic for The New York Times, isn't as harsh as EW, but she is still far from complimentary. Stanley writes that while a lot of time has passed since Paris had a hit show, the bleached blonde has failed to evolve. She comes off as "a Sony Walkman in an iPod era, a Friendster in the age of Facebook." In other words, she's no longer relevant.
Brian Lowry of Variety writes of the show's inherent, unavoidable hypocrisy. Paris laments how the paparazzi intrude on her life, and then she "allows a camera crew to watch her bathe." During an episode, Paris remarks that she wants to change her image, but she seems at a loss as to how to do that. So, she sticks with her "old tricks" like "showing up for court-ordered community service in Louis Vuitton high heels."
David Hinckley of the New York Daily News gives the series just one star out of five. He writes that while Paris is many things, including an author, a singer, and an actress, she is, at least in her new show, also a jerk. "Puzzling," writes Hinckley. "You'd think you'd sign on for a show like this as a sort of image rehab project, to show the world you really aren't a self-indulgent rich airhead, but human and sympathetic."
If image rehab was indeed the goal, something was clearly lost in the translation.
Unfortunately for Paris, that goal might be more lofty than she initially thought. According to early reviews, the billionaire Barbie comes off as a bit of a jerk on the Oxygen series, which premieres Wednesday night.
Entertainment Weekly gives the new series a D, and notes that, unlike Kim Kardashian's "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," Paris's new show "fails to deliver any frothy fun and the star comes across as completely unlikable." That failure may have to do with Paris's "inane voice-over narrations" in which she says things like doing community service "really sucks."
The comparison to Kim is inevitable. As longtime followers of pop culture may remember, the two were, once upon a time, best friends. In fact, Kim was just a sidekick. But in recent years, Kim's star power has far eclipsed Paris's, thanks in large part to her (relatively) likable personality.
Brian Lowry of Variety writes of the show's inherent, unavoidable hypocrisy. Paris laments how the paparazzi intrude on her life, and then she "allows a camera crew to watch her bathe." During an episode, Paris remarks that she wants to change her image, but she seems at a loss as to how to do that. So, she sticks with her "old tricks" like "showing up for court-ordered community service in Louis Vuitton high heels."
If image rehab was indeed the goal, something was clearly lost in the translation.
