A Stranger in the Mirror

I have a girlfriend who likes Sidney Sheldon stuff and she forced me to sit through it. She'd also forced me to sit through Poor Little Rich Girl, which wasn't that bad, and since this had the same director and screenwriter I thought I could make it through it. Boy, was I wrong. Lori Loughlin's character gets raped in a porno film, and then never does anything about it. Why? Doesn't this film want conflict? Instead it focuses on Loughlin's conflict with her husband's agent, Christopher Plummer, who is so eager to ooze spite that it actually does seem to come out of his ears. Loughlin's hubby, years after her porno rape, is a rich comedian played by Perry King. I don't know what Perry King was thinking, but his facial contortions in attempting to convey his character's suffering from his stroke had to be intentionally hilarious - perhaps a message to his agent who got him into this thing and anyone dumb enough to be watching it. One of the characters, Loughlin's rich former fiancee, is as clueless as any man ever portrayed on screen in any film. Ever.

Any man who is ever told by a woman that T&A films are idiotic and demeaning can source this as proof that there is something beneath them made especially for women.

The book is very good. The first time I read it, I was 20 years old, maybe 19. The film is very trashy, it doesn't match the richness of details (ok, this is common and always happens when transferring pages to screens). If you watch the film first, you certainly won't be excited to read the book. Do the opposite, start with the book.

Do the opposite, start with the book. The drama that Jill Temple faces to achieve stardom, as well as the trajectory of comedian Tobby, are intriguing and keep reading. Both of their lives are painful, always fighting for a place in the sun. The supporting characters are interesting too.