August 17, 1999
Everybody’s Talking About Talk - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
Tina! Tina! Tina!, everybody’s mad about Tina Brown. The vivacious Ms. Brown made big headlines last year when she stepped down as editor-in-chief of The New Yorker, and ever since her days at Vanity Fair, some people are just mad at her. For those of you who have absolutely no idea who Tina Brown is, here’s a short c.v. Tina Brown is the pinnacle of the magazine industry, she’s been editor-in-chief of Tattler, that’s a European tabloid. After her work abroad, America called and was on her way helming Vanity Fair. She completely overhauled the mag and is credited with its current success. From Vanity Fair she proceeded to the upper echelons of the mag world and became editor-in-chief of The New Yorker. So last year after the departure at The New Yorker, Harvey Weinstein, the head honcho at Miramax, asked her to help him start a new magazine from scratch. Weinstein, is a big man in the movie business. He chairs Miramax, which is responsible for some of the biggest hits of the last 4 or 5 years. Why those films are hits, and I’m talking about Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Il Postino, Shakespeare In Love, The English Patient and Life Is Beautiful, among much else, is because he’s got a gift of buzz and PR no other guy in movies today’s got. With his and Disney’s money, some $25-million dollars, and Tina’s gutsy and commanding attention, Talk mad it’s much heralded debut 2 weeks ago.
Sure, magazines debut all the time, but this is Tina and Harvey’s baby. A really public and masterfully orchestrated baby, that made headlines a year before its debut. Tina Brown is probably the only magazine editor in America that’s been a question on Jeopardy. Her successful razing of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker made her one of the most admired and hated bitch, er, I mean woman in publishing circles. She has the reputation of being a control freak, but a freak that gets magazines out of the presses and into consumers, millions of them. Miramax wanted a magazine that would help them find material for movies that they could launch. It’s debut issue has it’s own starlet, Gwyneth Paltrow in nothing more than leather and a whip in the issues debut. Talk has been heavily marketed, hyped and hyped again. Beneath it all, the critics have not gone out in a limb to praise it, but have said it’s actually pretty good.
So, I myself bought into the hype and got my own copy. It’s big and heavy, but it’s pages are flimsy. It’s a monthly, so that accounts for its weight and it says it’s general interest, so it’s cut out the size of Life. Talk is flashy and you couldn’t help but notice it, if not for all the news stories about the candid piece inside about Hillary. Hearst Publishing is also a partner with Miramax, and so like its own Marie Claire or Cosmopolitan, there are millions of ads. A whole slew of ads bookend its masthead up to page 49. Talk is a generally a general interest magazine, at least that’s what Tina says. It’s really one of those high end mags for the white middle aged professional, working on the East coast. It joins the subscription list of other high brow mags like: Brill’s Content or The New Yorker.
I’ve read through some articles. The Hillary Clinton piece by Lucinda Franks is quite a good read. You don’t actually have to read it, because it’s been quoted in the news a day before it came out, only adding to the hype. Franks gives us an inner look at Mrs. Clinton and all are wondering about the Clinton’s personal relationship is spilled open here. Tucker Carlson has a very interesting look at George W. Bush. We really get a clue into this very vague personality. Bush actually seems alive in the piece. Purists will not want to miss Tom Stoppard, who writes a very good memoir about discovering his Jewish roots. Stoppard is a very-well known playwright and co-wrote Miramax’s Shakespeare In Love.
This is one of the few times in Pop Culture, where the hype is justified. There is great substance in Talk and the pieces are well done. There’s a who’s who list of writers and editors and there’s actually a lot of stuff in this issue that’s worth talking about, even for me. Tina Brown has created a hit and Talk is now, not just the conversation piece for WASP’s.
Questions and comments may be sent to: editor@thecommentary.ca
An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE .