Tell ’em Royce, you tell ’em, girl.

Kelly O—formerly a Stranger staff photographer, music writer, Drunk of the Week columnist, and more!—finished art school and a soul-crushing internship at a corporate advertising agency in Detroit,...

14 replies on “Lunchtime Quickie: When You’re Old, Do You Get to Say Whatever You Want?”

  4. Honestly that clip and the article make me very uncomfortable in the same way that Grey Gardens did. It feels an awful lot like people who are Sane(tm) getting their rocks off by watching someone who is Crazy(tm) engage in their behaviors. It feels very mean spirited and exploitative.

  6. It’s not mean spirited. You know Royce constantly bit her tongue when she was a young to-do NYC society girl. Now she says whatever the h-e-double-hockey-sticks she wants on her own YouTube channel.

    I admire this. It’s ok to appreciate her, and her history

  10. @4. . . she was just enjoying some sauvignon blanc. . . and expressing her opinion. That’s not “grey Gardens.”

    Although if I end up all grey gardens, that’ll be okay.

  12. Was that Joanna Lumley satirizing AbFab -OR- has Waylan Flowers come back from the grave to bring Madame back to us?

  13. @4 – I think it’s always a good question to ask about someone’s exploitation, specifically if it’s seems someone is exploiting a vulnerable population, ie the mentally ill. I’ve worked with the “mentally ill” (schizophrenic, bi-polar, etc) for years & grew up with an uncle who had/has schizo-affective disorder. I have taped interviews with him many times having his full volition & approval. The difference I see is whether this person/persons know they’re being taped/recorded etc. If it’s a hidden camera or microphone it is clearly exploiting this person. My uncle LOVED & still LOVES to be taped & interviewed and he is aware I will either show it to others or portray him myself, which he also feels very proud about & tells others he knows about either situation. From everything that I have read about the “Maysles” (documentary film directors) concerning the “Beales” Big Edie & Little Edie (Grey Gardens) they knew they were being taped & loved going to showings of the movie & laughed along. They also loved being interviewed & the whole process. I’m not familiar with the people behind these clips but I can tell “Royce” (the woman in the hat) is having loads of fun ranting & raving about anything she wanted. I enjoy watching any sort of eccentric person being themselves. God knows I’ve said things plenty of times that, after I left, someone found eccentric or funny… I’ve even had it happen in my presence. Now if someone had hidden a recording device & was presenting it in a negative fashion at my expense, ie a way that it was presented to slander or otherwise misrepresent me I would be angry.

    That’s my take on it. As I said above I think continually keeping watch out for exploitation is a good thing… but I think the women in these clips knew what they were doing…

    I think it’s a great lively, ongoing conversation to have.

Comments are closed.