A Friend Stopped By | 06/02/2009 11:00 pm
What Is It About Adam Lambert? by Allegra Huston
The author of Love Child reflects on the panty-throwing days of yesteryear … and on the latest inspiration for the flinging of undergarments from ‘American Idol.’
© Getty Images
Editor’s Note: Allegra Huston’s new book, Love Child: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found, hit bookstores in April and has received rave reviews from Melik Kaylan at Forbes, the Daily Telegraph and wOw’s own Liz Smith, among others. Allegra is the youngest daughter of film director John Huston and sister of Oscar-winning actress Anjelica Huston. She was born in London, raised in Ireland and Los Angeles, and now lives in Taos, NM. She was a publisher in London for nine years and has been a freelance writer and editor since 1994.
In the early ’80s, I moved to London and discovered that housewives were throwing their panties at Freddie Mercury. I found it baffling. Tom Jones I could understand, though I didn’t buy into it; but Freddie Mercury was so obviously gay. These 40-something women in polyester dresses and perma-set hair were making idiots of themselves on the BBC, as if they didn’t understand what gay was.
| I haven’t had a crush on a famous person since my yearning, aged 14, for John Travolta to rescue me from the mountaintop house ... |
Could they really not know? I was only 16, but I knew perfectly well – maybe it was because I came from Los Angeles. I’d gone to Frederick’s of Hollywood with my stepmother to buy pink ostrich-feather mules in a size 13 for her friend Philip, to assist in his transformation into Marcia Hardridge.
And now I’m in my 40s, and, if I were the panty-throwing type, I’d want to throw mine at Adam Lambert. What has happened to me?
I’ve never liked the front-combed hair-in-the-face look. I don’t know that I’d actually vote for the black nail polish. And I’m a bit worried that he’s got some ghastly secret piercings. To be honest, I’m not really sure I want to find out. But there’s something about him that keeps me — and half the women I know — replaying old "American Idol" episodes on DVR and gazing at photographs of his blue-penciled eyes. (Let’s not forget that Brando did eyeliner too.) Bravery, maybe — he hooked me with “Ring of Fire.” The damn-the-torpedoes flamboyance, the oh-my-god-what-did-I-just-do look when he finished. The intense self-discipline obvious behind the recklessness. And the sweetness. And the smile.
Frankly, I don’t mind whether he’s kissing a guy or a girl in that photo with the overcoat and scarf and purple hair held back by sunglasses; it’s a very sexy photograph. I wouldn’t want to print it out if he was kissing a girl. I’d be jealous of her. A guy, I can’t compete with.
I’m thinking it may be better to have a crush on a gay man. I haven’t had a crush on a famous person since my yearning, aged 14, for John Travolta to rescue me from the mountaintop house that, behind my grandmother’s back, we called Gloom Castle. I felt like an idiot then, and I’d feel like one now if I was mooning around over photos of Johnny Depp or Denzel Washington and wondering whether, if we were stuck in an elevator together, they just might be up for it. Of course, they’re more my age. I was at university listening to the original “Mad World” when Adam Lambert was born.
He’s utterly unattainable. So what am I thinking? This way, I can really laugh at myself. I’m not like those Freddie Mercury housewives; I know the score. This is not a sad obsession. I’m hoping it might be chic.
More From Allegra Huston:
"What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?" Seduce Adam Lambert, Obviously
Read more about: A Friend Stopped By, Adam Lambert, American Idol, Books, Denzel Washington, Entertainment, Freddie Mercury, Homosexuality, Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando, Relationships
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- The World in Vogue (Photos)
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- Liz Smith Remembers the 'Good Old Days' of Department Stores
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Lily Tomlin Is Coming to NYC!
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Queen Martha, by Cynthia McFadden
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- The World in Vogue (Photos)
wOw Features
Reader Voices
Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
The Palin Book, as Dear Margo Sees It
12404 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
You might want to hold off ordering Adam’s album now as I have read that there might be a deluxe cd. Don’t know what is included on the deluxe one, but I will probably end up ordering it also.
On the new show where Adam is singing Mad World, some fans are speculating that one of the promos shows Adam in the backround. There is a scene where everyone is blacked out at a sports stadium and a mysterious figure in a long black "Mad World coat" is seen walking. The figure is remote and blurry and the hope is that it is Adam. I rather doubt it. Also, the promo for 2012 will be shown between 9-11pm Eastern time on Oct 2nd, and the hope is that the new song will be heard in the backround. I hope I have my facts right…
Gloria, your Buddha parable brings to mind my own exploration of Buddhism. As I understand it, in Buddhist philosophy, suffering is caused by desire, one’s emotional attachment to the world — people, objects, life itself — which the Buddha came to think of as illusory. The world itself is a construct of our minds, delusions, as it were. Thus to recognize the illusory nature of the world is to recognize the deceptive nature of desire. The enlightened being is one who sees through illusion and is thereby released from desire.
I considered this to be a rather compelling idea when I was younger, but I have grown to see things differently. If you’ve ever been to a Buddhist retreat and run into those gaunt, smug, emotionally detached types who walk around as though trying to levitate, you just want to smack them. Maybe it’s the influence of Judaism, which cleaves to life, to history, and strives not to dismiss the material as illusory, but to imbue it with divinity, but I now think of suffering as the inverse of love. The depth of our suffering is a measure of the size of our love. Painful as it is to experience death, would you want to live without feeling so as to shield yourself from that pain? Perhaps suffering itself contains at its core the solace we seek.
My gift to the sistergood today is this poem, The Last Invocation, by Walt Whitman:
At the last, tenderly,
From the walls of the powerful fortress’d house,
From the clasp of the knitted locks, from the keep of the well-closed doors,
Let me be wafted.
Let me glide noiselessly forth;
With the key of softness unlock the locks—with a whisper,
Set ope the doors O soul.
Tenderly—be not impatient,
(Strong is your hold O mortal flesh,
Strong is your hold O love.)
With love,
Juneau
Thank you for the Whitman poem. I hadn’t read it before, and it’s lovely and somehow satisfying.
LOL! I’ve seen so many of these types in my "earth-shoe granola-muffin" days, as my son so unkindly refers to the 70’s.
Thanks Cat. I first came across this poem when it was set to music by John Harbison, in memory of a young singer who perished in a plane crash. I find it gentle and powerful, how it so simply describes the poignant pull between the soul’s release into the Void and the hold that love has on the living.
Glad you enjoyed my description of these Zen types. I’ve been waiting for years to have a chance to say that!
Dearest Juneau,
You always say things so eloquently.
I love this excerpt from your post…
"The depth of our suffering is a measure of the size of our love."
I think you hit the nail on the head with your statement. It’s true, the deeper the love the more difficult it is to deal with the loss of that love or of the loss of our loved one.
"Painful as it is to experience death, would you want to live without feeling so as to shield yourself from that pain?
No, absolutely not. To feel is to be alive even if it’s feeling pain…it’s feeling. To live without feeling would not be living at all.
"Perhaps suffering itself contains at its core the solace we seek."
What a profound thought. Is that the truth? Is the answer that at the bottom of our despair is where we find the most comfort….where our love is validated in our grief? I’ve never thought about it that way, but your words have forced me to think in those terms. Have I gotten comfort from the ache I feel when remembering someone near and dear to my heart? I think so. If that is true, then in sorrow we must find comfort, just by recognizing the depth of our love and the pain of our loss.
Thank you for making me think Dr Juneau…it’s very theraputic.
Light and love,
Cleo xoxo
Hi Juneau:
I agree with you about suffering:
When we are suffering, we are in the moment and it is comforting.
I think that it is not the suffering but the worry about things from the past or the future that causes the greatest pain:
I think that quote was sent by GB some time ago.
Love, Priscilla.
Hi PQ,
Thanks so much for your well-wishes. I should say that he was my ex- father-in-law, but after my divorce I stayed close to my ex’s side of the family because i liked them and wantedto do the right thing by my children, who were tweens at that time (therefore - no DH now).
My ex has turned into such a piece of garbage, along with his new wife, who doesn’t want me any place near him, that he texted my son that I should not come to the service or funeral. I didn’t want to cause any melodrama, which is what The Wicked Witch of the West would have done, so I spoke to the entire family, toldthem what occured, sent a huge bouquet of flowers, and will see them in a couple of weeks. I figured I needed to show some class and decorum, which my ex and his wife certainly don’t possess.
Which gets me back to Adam and something I have said a few times - this man has more class and manners and wisdom than most of the men in this country - they should take an example of how an honest-to-God real man behaves and carries himself.
Bye for now and thanks,
XO,
Dorothy
Dorothy,
I am impressed at the way you handled that drama in such a non-Wicked-Witch-of-the-West kind of way. I think that was the perfect thing to do. People can be so childish sometimes-it’s good when you don’t go down to their level.
It is good you stayed in touch with your ex-laws;I am sure they were grateful(except for ex-DH,who didn’t know enough to be grateful).
Top o’ the mornin’ to all you lassies, I missed you terribly, caught up on the posts when I could, and thought of all the fun I was missing. I had a wonderful time in Ireland !
First things first …. I was so saddened to read of the unfortunate deaths that occurred in the past week. Christine, Dorothy, Sweet Sue, you are in my thoughts and I would like to envelope you all in a big cyber hug ((((((♥)))))). So many of us have had losses recently and I thank Adam for bringing us together, such a caring, compassionate group of women …. our little sistergood, it’s like we were meant to meet to spread a comfort blanket from the US to NZ.
Also, Happy Birthday to the Grand High Princess Xena, we bow to you sweet leader. Cleo, about damn time you got those pictures up, girl … I was beginning to wonder if you had something to hide about the encounter with the Adam Substitute - like maybe Xena had used her powers to actually transform him and send you off to a secret Island.
Well, it’s official, my ming has been taken over, the brainwashing is complete, as if I am a Lambertchurian Candidate whose synapses have been overpowered by protoplasm from a glittering planet out near the DeKuyper Belt and I am now sent out to spread the word about the NEW MAN who is about to transform life as we know it.
I am ruined, and I am a willing pawn…examples for your considerstion :
- I am in the airport in Boston, walking with DH and I pass the Duty Free store and my eye is captured like a laser at the word Dior." You go to the gate, I’m going to wander in here, we have time" and I am like a crazed person, practically knocking people down to get to the men’s section … and there it is !! Homme, the smell of my Muse. I take a sample card , spray it, smell it, the olfactory receptors click into place and the brainwashing is complete. He now owns me and will direct me to do his will. I grab the bottle, but wait … you will have to deliver it to the gate ? I can’t take it with me, I’ll have to explain it ? OH No .. this is MY secret. I grab 10 sample cards, cover them with spray and tuck them inside the iTouch case, close to the sacred receptacle of everything Adam.
- Arrive in Dublin, meet up with other Distributors and Guinness Officials and head to The Temple Bar. I am having a discussion with a man who just came back from Russia. He is telling me about noticing all the women who have hair like Victoria Beckham, that entertainers influence style. Here is my cue … "Oh yes, Adam lambert will be huge in influencing style, for men & women. Makeup, dress, glitter, spikes etc " My brain clicks into high gear, super observant … what do I hear ? The singer in the room next to us, typical Irish Bar singer, starts singing "One" by U2 .. I kid you not. Just as I began to miss him, feel some withdrawal, here he is … he will not let me down.
- The big hour has arrived, the reason for the trip. We are at the Brewery, St James Gate, for the Guinness Toast. Red carpet, spotlights, crowds, surprise entertainment. We eschew the reserved seats and move to the floor, up front near the stage. Who will it be ? Tom Jones ! Now I must admit I was never a big fan, but as most of the women around me ( mostly from Ireland & the UK) start to swoon, I, who has been enlightened by a far greater being, see an old man, a pretender, a forerunner to a master, a John the Baptist to Jesus ( apologies, Clare) I have seen the real thing ! Those aren’t moves, that is not sexy, you are an imposter … I’ve seen Adam !! I could barely clap … I’ve been ruined.
-We go to dinner at and see a show of traditional Irish music and dance, wonderful, fun, great music. Then the dancers come out and one of the men is the gayest man I have ever seen … all smiles, limp wrists and waves. I am surprised at my reaction because I love gay men, but I am thinking "you should be like Adam, he is the perfect blend of male & female, an androgyny that picks up the best traits of both without exaggerating either "
- We walk near our hotel, near Merrion Square and I am drawn to a park. What do I find ? The most beautiful statue of the most famous, flamboyant but loved by both sexes man, Oscar Wilde. As if on a pilgrimage, I reach up and take his hand and think " You would be so proud of how far we have come, and you would LOVE Adam ! "
- We are given a special tour of the Dial ( Irish Parliament) and even go to the Oval Office, and since PM Brian Cowan is in the US at the UN we go into his office. I sit at his desk and imagine .. is this my chance to fulfill my Lambertchurian mission of making the world a glittery planet fierce and make the New Adam Lord high Ruler of us all and bring goodness & love to everyone. I will wait, he is not ready, his day is coming - Nov 23.
- No matter WHO I am with, Adam comes into the conversation … DH rolling his eyes, I am incapable of resisting his power, I am ruined, but in a good way. No matter how much Irish Whiskey I drink, or maybe because of it ;-) Adam has infiltrated my consciousness for ever, I am his servant.
Here are a few photos of my adventure… http://s669.photobucket.com/albums/vv54/ellenspen/
Glad to be back, love you all (((Glambertinae )))
Welcome back, EKA! What a wonderful adventure, and the Adamistic scent of Dior Homme along every step of the way. I simply loved your Oscar Wilde moment, and I am so glad that moment was captured. He would be very proud of where we are today, and he’d think Adam was HOT. Your pictures were delightful— a lovely, lovely trip. And great concert pictures as a bonus.
OMG, Tom Jones looks OLD! But he’s still going. And I thought his voice would burn out within ten years. Shows what I know.
By the way, I thought of you in Ireland, I saw the name Niamh several times.
Are you Irish ?