Writing about the Gen Y cult of Bill Murray, Derian expresses something I’ve been saying for years, and thinking for longer (before I could put it into words):
Bill Murray is charming, but charm’s dirty secret is that it usually belies something that’s not so charming.
The etymology of “charm” suggests that its only a temporary cover-up, albeit a mature, healthy one. (…)
I wonder this partly because Murray’s new “let me make a spectacle out of myself” marketing campaign only started in 2008, when his marriage ended.
More specifically, his wife left him, accusing Murray of drug addiction, infidelity, and domestic violence.
Now he’s estranged from some of his children. How fun!
***
I am almost entirely impervious to “charm” — and “schmoozing” and “flattering” and all its other guises.
Mostly on account of my temperament. One of the reasons men literally turn up their noses at me (besides the obvious ones) is that I greet most (rare) attempts at ingratiation with a sour, flattened affect.
My bullshit detector is always set on “high.”
