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American Morning
90-Second Pop, Culture Watch
Aired October 20, 2003 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's "90-Second Pop" time once again. And with me this morning, humorist Andy Borowitz, Toure is a contributing editor for "Rolling Stone" magazine, and B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
That's a nice, fast intro this morning. I'm loving that.
Good morning, guys. Nice to see you.
Toure, let's start with you. Madonna and Britney...
TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... torch being passed? Yes or no.
TOURE: Well...
O'BRIEN: Can it be done effectively?
TOURE: It's sort of like a co-endorsement, you know, like two politicians endorsing each other. I mean, Madonna is kind of like Britney's pop mother. Right? Like, both of them have made this sort of multi-media, mega-career on a minimum of talent, right? I mean, they're both singers who can't sing...
O'BRIEN: Look, honey, I did it, and you can do it, too?
TOURE: Yes, yes.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: It's a family business.
TOURE: Yes, it's totally this thing. So, this linking together, Madonna gets a little relevance, Britney gets a little pop substance.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
TOURE: Everybody wins.
O'BRIEN: But even people who don't particularly care for Madonna's work give her credit when they say, you know, she reinvents herself and changes sort of everything about herself every so often, which is what keeps the public interested in her.
TOURE: Right.
O'BRIEN: Can Britney do that? TOURE: Well, I mean, Britney is working the tabloids, working the outfits -- you know, all of that sort of stuff.
O'BRIEN: She's just getting naked --- more and more naked everyday.
B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": She's always said that Madonna has long been her role model, and this is a way to get a little bit of that. Madonna is teaching her how to use her image a little bit. I'm not sure that Britney taking off her clothes all the time is the way to emulate Madonna in this way.
BOROWITZ: With all due respect to Britney, she's got to make a lot of bad movies before I'd put her in the same category as Madonna.
O'BRIEN: But most people give Madonna credit for being a very savvy businessperson, even if you don't like her movies and you don't like her music. Can Britney -- I mean...
TOURE: At this point in Britney's -- in Madonna's career as far along as Britney is, people didn't respect her. Camille Polly (ph) was not writing about her. So, I mean, give -- I don't know if Britney will become Madonna, but she's already Madonna-esque (ph), where she is now, by getting this far with no talent.
O'BRIEN: We'll just have to continue to watch the lack of talent that you're talking about to see how it goes for both of them.
Let's talk movies, Andy. The "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." We were all, like, laughing about that the other day.
BOROWITZ: No...
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Well, the joke's on us, isn't it?
BOROWITZ: It's just, you know, the power of Leather Face. You know, Leather Face is just one of the most endearing characters in the American cinema. So, I think it was really kind of interesting. But the big -- I think the big contest will be this week when Leather Face is opposite Meg Ryan's scary new face. I think that's going to be a really interesting...
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: Can I say this? The thing about "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," they got the exact audience in those seats that they wanted. Three-thirds -- I'm sorry...
O'BRIEN: Three-thirds.
SIGESMUND: Three-thirds of those...
O'BRIEN: You guys are never allowed to make fun of me again ever after that. SIGESMUND: I'm sorry. Three-quarters of the kids in those seats were under 25, split evenly between men and women. This is a studio's dream. So, obviously someone did something right that they would earn $30 million on this movie.
And "Runaway Jury," the other new movie for the weekend, would be No. 3 with just a paltry $12 million.
TOURE: Well, I heard that "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is doing well in Boston, which is not surprising, because they're already living through a nightmare after the Red Sox.
O'BRIEN: Oh, oh, that's a low blow.
TOURE: Yes, well...
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about David Blaine, because I just don't get it. I really -- and Hemmer and I have been sort of arguing about this all morning. Why? What...
TOURE: Part of the thing...
O'BRIEN: OK, first, let's back up. First, do you think he really did it? Was he up there?
TOURE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: He doesn't look skinny to me.
TOURE: No, no, he's -- I mean, he's really doing these things. I mean, there's something extra about this guy and his physical approach to these sorts of things. But what you have here is a guy who finally makes magic look cool. Magic is dorky.
O'BRIEN: But where was the magic in this?
SIGESMUND: Yes.
TOURE: David Copperfield is a dork.
O'BRIEN: Where was...
TOURE: This is more cool.
O'BRIEN: Look, he's in a big plastic box waving at people. Where is that magic?
SIGESMUND: Yes. I think there are more questions about this than there are answers. People think it was a hologram. People think he was licking nutrients off the bottom of the cage. People think there was food in his lip balm. The problem is, he has never said why he did this. I actually interviewed him before he went into the box. And I said, 'So why are you doing this?' And he said over and over again, "I just feel like I want to, I feel like I have to."
O'BRIEN: But... SIGESMUND: It's, like, why do you climb a mountain? It's because...
BOROWITZ: Well, his next stunt is amazing. He said he's going to sit through ABC's entire Friday night lineup, which I didn't think could be done. The whole TGIF...
O'BRIEN: Let me read you a quote from David Blaine: "When I concentrate on something too much, my head hurts." That's what he said.
BOROWITZ: That's what Jessica Simpson says. The same thing, she's always licking nutrients off that tuna can.
SIGESMUND: I mean, again, he's laughing all the way to the bank, as they say.
O'BRIEN: Where is the money in this?
SIGESMUND: He got a reported $8 million.
TOURE: ABC, $8 million special.
SIGESMUND: And they film it had for a documentary.
TOURE: This is like his third or fourth ABC special.
O'BRIEN: This is just one of those, I don't get why everyone cares.
TOURE: I'm with you.
O'BRIEN: But, you know, that's me. Apparently, he lives downtown. Maybe I'll run into him one day and just ask him myself.
You guys, as always, nice to see you. Thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired October 20, 2003 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's "90-Second Pop" time once again. And with me this morning, humorist Andy Borowitz, Toure is a contributing editor for "Rolling Stone" magazine, and B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
That's a nice, fast intro this morning. I'm loving that.
Good morning, guys. Nice to see you.
Toure, let's start with you. Madonna and Britney...
TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... torch being passed? Yes or no.
TOURE: Well...
O'BRIEN: Can it be done effectively?
TOURE: It's sort of like a co-endorsement, you know, like two politicians endorsing each other. I mean, Madonna is kind of like Britney's pop mother. Right? Like, both of them have made this sort of multi-media, mega-career on a minimum of talent, right? I mean, they're both singers who can't sing...
O'BRIEN: Look, honey, I did it, and you can do it, too?
TOURE: Yes, yes.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: It's a family business.
TOURE: Yes, it's totally this thing. So, this linking together, Madonna gets a little relevance, Britney gets a little pop substance.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
TOURE: Everybody wins.
O'BRIEN: But even people who don't particularly care for Madonna's work give her credit when they say, you know, she reinvents herself and changes sort of everything about herself every so often, which is what keeps the public interested in her.
TOURE: Right.
O'BRIEN: Can Britney do that? TOURE: Well, I mean, Britney is working the tabloids, working the outfits -- you know, all of that sort of stuff.
O'BRIEN: She's just getting naked --- more and more naked everyday.
B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": She's always said that Madonna has long been her role model, and this is a way to get a little bit of that. Madonna is teaching her how to use her image a little bit. I'm not sure that Britney taking off her clothes all the time is the way to emulate Madonna in this way.
BOROWITZ: With all due respect to Britney, she's got to make a lot of bad movies before I'd put her in the same category as Madonna.
O'BRIEN: But most people give Madonna credit for being a very savvy businessperson, even if you don't like her movies and you don't like her music. Can Britney -- I mean...
TOURE: At this point in Britney's -- in Madonna's career as far along as Britney is, people didn't respect her. Camille Polly (ph) was not writing about her. So, I mean, give -- I don't know if Britney will become Madonna, but she's already Madonna-esque (ph), where she is now, by getting this far with no talent.
O'BRIEN: We'll just have to continue to watch the lack of talent that you're talking about to see how it goes for both of them.
Let's talk movies, Andy. The "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." We were all, like, laughing about that the other day.
BOROWITZ: No...
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Well, the joke's on us, isn't it?
BOROWITZ: It's just, you know, the power of Leather Face. You know, Leather Face is just one of the most endearing characters in the American cinema. So, I think it was really kind of interesting. But the big -- I think the big contest will be this week when Leather Face is opposite Meg Ryan's scary new face. I think that's going to be a really interesting...
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: Can I say this? The thing about "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," they got the exact audience in those seats that they wanted. Three-thirds -- I'm sorry...
O'BRIEN: Three-thirds.
SIGESMUND: Three-thirds of those...
O'BRIEN: You guys are never allowed to make fun of me again ever after that. SIGESMUND: I'm sorry. Three-quarters of the kids in those seats were under 25, split evenly between men and women. This is a studio's dream. So, obviously someone did something right that they would earn $30 million on this movie.
And "Runaway Jury," the other new movie for the weekend, would be No. 3 with just a paltry $12 million.
TOURE: Well, I heard that "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is doing well in Boston, which is not surprising, because they're already living through a nightmare after the Red Sox.
O'BRIEN: Oh, oh, that's a low blow.
TOURE: Yes, well...
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about David Blaine, because I just don't get it. I really -- and Hemmer and I have been sort of arguing about this all morning. Why? What...
TOURE: Part of the thing...
O'BRIEN: OK, first, let's back up. First, do you think he really did it? Was he up there?
TOURE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: He doesn't look skinny to me.
TOURE: No, no, he's -- I mean, he's really doing these things. I mean, there's something extra about this guy and his physical approach to these sorts of things. But what you have here is a guy who finally makes magic look cool. Magic is dorky.
O'BRIEN: But where was the magic in this?
SIGESMUND: Yes.
TOURE: David Copperfield is a dork.
O'BRIEN: Where was...
TOURE: This is more cool.
O'BRIEN: Look, he's in a big plastic box waving at people. Where is that magic?
SIGESMUND: Yes. I think there are more questions about this than there are answers. People think it was a hologram. People think he was licking nutrients off the bottom of the cage. People think there was food in his lip balm. The problem is, he has never said why he did this. I actually interviewed him before he went into the box. And I said, 'So why are you doing this?' And he said over and over again, "I just feel like I want to, I feel like I have to."
O'BRIEN: But... SIGESMUND: It's, like, why do you climb a mountain? It's because...
BOROWITZ: Well, his next stunt is amazing. He said he's going to sit through ABC's entire Friday night lineup, which I didn't think could be done. The whole TGIF...
O'BRIEN: Let me read you a quote from David Blaine: "When I concentrate on something too much, my head hurts." That's what he said.
BOROWITZ: That's what Jessica Simpson says. The same thing, she's always licking nutrients off that tuna can.
SIGESMUND: I mean, again, he's laughing all the way to the bank, as they say.
O'BRIEN: Where is the money in this?
SIGESMUND: He got a reported $8 million.
TOURE: ABC, $8 million special.
SIGESMUND: And they film it had for a documentary.
TOURE: This is like his third or fourth ABC special.
O'BRIEN: This is just one of those, I don't get why everyone cares.
TOURE: I'm with you.
O'BRIEN: But, you know, that's me. Apparently, he lives downtown. Maybe I'll run into him one day and just ask him myself.
You guys, as always, nice to see you. Thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
