Justine Bateman

As a woman of early-middle-age, this book struck a chord with me. Our society worships youth and the appearance of it - especially for women. There is a constant stream of advertisements for goods like cosmetic procedures, creams, makeups, and other consumables - all telling aging women that there is something wrong with them. They need fixed. A woman who allows natural aging is in direct conflict with this message, and can be offensive to those who buy into the marketing. In this book, the show more author ultimately advocates for women to reject society's harmful standards of beauty and to embrace and feel pride in an aging face. It's a refreshing, feminist, and needed message. show less

Justine Bateman insists this is not a memoir early on in the book. And it isn't, not really. But it's also impossible for her not to insert her own experiences into her exploration of the life cycle of fame and theories on why people react they way they do to the famous. I don't think this takes away from the work, but rather helps the reader get to know Bateman as the human she is not just as one of the famous or once very famous. Her stream of consciousness and conversational writing style show more also helps as she addresses the reader directly. I thought this was a really honest work and useful in examining how reality TV, the internet and social media have changed what it means (and what it takes to be famous). show less

Raise your hand if you LOVED Family Ties as a kid! And had a crush on Alex P. Keaton? And wanted TO BE Mallory!?! Justine Bateman was an idol of mine in the 80's. If I could be like her, or look like her, I pressed my parents to give me a sister just like her! But I got stuck with a brother. Boo!

It's funny, because when I first heard about this book, I said first thing, "Whatever happened to her?" in that snarky, snide voice - like oh, she was has-been, she didn't do anything after Family show more Ties, she's a one-hit wonder.... And THAT is exactly the type of attitude Justine addresses in this book. (I'm totally sorry for what I said btw Justine and I still love you!)

If you're looking for the behind the scenes secrets and juicy scandal of the beloved sitcom - this is not the book. If you want the scoop on MJ Fox and hanging with child stars of the 80's - nope, not that book either. In fact, one of the first chapters in the book fully explains this - the book is NOT a memoir. It's an exploration of fame. Justine dissects everything from childhood fame in the 80's, to reality star "fame" of today, as well as both the construction AND destruction of fame that social media can make happen. I was fascinated by her take on all things fame. I felt for her - being an actress on a hit TV show, and only being seen for THAT. That her education, and directing, and successes in business mean nothing - cause the "whatever happened to her" mentality translates to - well, if we haven't seen her on TV anymore - she must be a failure in life.

I loved reading this - she's frantic, and passionate, and, OK I'll say it- a bit crazy, yes - but do you blame her? Imagine people saying about you "Boy, she sure has let herself go" on a public forum, on google searches, on Twitter. Just cause the last time they saw her she was 21 - and now she's 50. Well, clearly she's aged - duh. Obviously she doesn't LOOK the same!

I gobbled up every chapter and loved her take on how crazy it is to be famous, but how much crazier it is today. Sure, there's some namedropping, some mentions of Michael J. Fox, Sarah Jessica Parker, and more - and there's even a bunch of color photos in the book that she talks about and references throughout the book, which I loved. I didn't need the juicy gossip, as I felt like it made me understand celebrities more and totally got me out of that mentality of "Oh, they wanted to be in the spotlight, so they are just automatically targets." No. I feel terrible now for ever ragging on a celeb in the spotlight - especially the young ones out there.

But I'm still not laying off the reality "stars" ;) haha. show less

Fame. It's such an alluring idea. The great goal that many of us secretly dream of achieving. We even start to base our value and success on this idea of fame.

How many likes do you have? How many followers? Viewers? We base our self-esteem on other people's perceptions of us. I am just as guilty of this as anyone. I look at my Instagram and wonder how other bookstagramers have hundreds of followers in a matter of weeks, and feel like a failure.

In Fame: The Hijacking of Reality, Justine show more Bateman talks about how the various stages of fame affected her life. But first, what is fame anyway? According to Bateman, it is something that society has created. (Like money. And gender.) Basically, it's all in our head. It doesn't really exist. The jittery, ecstatic feeling you get in the pit in your stomach when you catch sight of someone you've happened to see on TV heading into a Starbucks is only because you and society put more value on them than the pediatric orthopedic surgeon also ordering their morning coffee at said Starbucks.

Bateman uses personal experiences to discuss the awkward, scary, and humiliating descent into non-fame, while giving glimpses of what it was like in the glory days and how fame has changed over the years. What fascinated me was how she witnessed the shift in our culture to the celebrity-obsessed, social media frenzy it is today. When she was on TV in the 1980s, paparazzi didn't wait to ambush you taking your garbage out in your pajamas and messy hairdo and then claim that you are in a major depression due to a bad breakup that never happened. Or how social media gives instant access to celebrities in a way that used to involve postage and too much effort to let someone know that you think they look like a cow who contracted smallpox and hope they die.

As you may have noticed, this subject was absolutely fascinating to me and Bateman had me hooked from the first page. It was gritty and raw at times, with a lot of obvious passion. Her style of writing felt as though I wasn't reading her book, but rather she was sitting across from me relaying stories complete with inflections and gesticulations. Sometimes I felt that the F-bombs were a tad over-dropped, and some of the stories were introduced and dismissed too quickly, but the point was always made with a swift punch.

Overall, Bateman's blatant, unapologetic commentary was on point. It reiterated what I already knew about our society being totally messed up, as well as made me examine some of my own ideologies of celebrities. It is a good read, especially if you have the desire to one day reach the status of FAMOUS in big, sparkly letters. show less