So Julia's 40 ... that's hardly fodder for a BBC News bulletin.
I'm usually a staunch defender of BBC News, which I think does a splendid and dignified job of covering upheaval, famine, business and the whole gamut of events all over the world. But last night it lost the plot by showing an interview with Julia Roberts.
Since when did BBC News include "competing with OK! and Hello!" in its public service remit? This segment, ostensibly to mark Julia Roberts turning 40 (well, big deal, professional women turn 40 every day, nobody asked me to do an interview with the Beeb on my 40th birthday) was on a par with Kirsty Wark's misguided Newsnight interview with Madonna for uncritical gush, soft-focus setting and pathetic fluttering by an interviewer unable to collect herself sufficiently to frame an even partly sensible question.
Where Wark interviewed Madonna in an absurd setting of black chandeliers and drapery, this reporter batted soft questions at Roberts in a classic celebrity magazine location: a hotel room with an artful arrangement of expensive flowers just out of focus behind the star. We were treated to clips of her latest film, Charlie Wilson's War, in which she plays a Southern socialite. Astonishing revelations included the fact that a shot of Roberts in her bikini had made the star fret because she was pregnant at the time and concerned that she might look a bit fat in the shots. Then we were treated to Roberts telling the reporter that she reminded her of Kate Winslet.
This is not news. It's a pathetic puff for a new film that should really have been shown, if at all, on Film 2008. And Jonathan Ross would have done a better job of interviewing Roberts. Let's hope that this isn't the start of a trend, of news editors at Television Centre agreeing to show such tosh simply because someone offers them 10 minutes with a Hollywood star.
Fortunately, the presenter, Nicholas Owen, had the grace to look a bit embarrassed when the piece finished. But it should never have been shown on a bulletin at all. I have no problem with the BBC doing celebrity stuff, but please can it be kept to the appropriate slots and please can we stick to news in news bulletins?
