Sunday 26 October 2014

Aidoru vs. Audrey



One thing I am a tiny bit obsessed with, as should be obvious, is idols. Another thing that takes up more of my time than it should is watching old films. In my shallow mind pretty much any film made before 1970 gets bonus points and makes its way onto my “to-watch” list. And because I am a cliche teenage girl and the emotional equivalent of a fairy cake, I have seen an almost unholy number of Audrey Hepburn movies.

Whether she is Princess discovering the “real world”,

  a schoolteacher faced with lesbian rumours

 or making out with Peter O’Toole in a cupboard whilst attempting a heist,

 I am fascinated.

Where am I going with this?

Well I have figured out that the reason I love Audrey and the reason I love idols is actually almost the same. Audrey played all these different roles while still being Audrey Hepburn. She kept up an impeccable image and always acted with grace. While we never knew her personally we felt that we knew that she was kind and well, just lovely. She was an “almost girl next door” in that she was good natured and natural but a magnetism, talent and beauty that, I don’t know about you, I have never found next door. 

These qualities are exactly the same ones I recognise is my favourite idols. I guess there must be a reason why, even today, Japan is particularly Audrey crazy. 

I can’t remember who said it but I am sure someone once said “If you want the girl next door, go next door”. The best idols, in my opinion, are slightly untouchable. This is getting more and more rare these days with the use of handshake events to shift copies of singles but that’s a whole other discussion.

There's something about Nacchi's contained energy that's rather Audrey-esque


In one of my favourite pictures of Ai she is wearing the classic black polo-neck

Also, something that is significant in Japan, even in the idol world, is the idea of duty. We want our idols to be committed to their career and to their fans which is probably why people kick up such a storm at any “scandal”. And you know Princess Ann says in “Roman Holiday”…

 Were I not completely aware of my duty to my family and to my country, I would not have come back tonight... or indeed ever again!