I loved this article. It was so interesting to see the relationship that developed between the two women during the course of this interview.
We start with Mae West announcing her superiority, flashing her wealth, her admirers, her sucess with the exchange about diamonds. A master of the backhanded compliment, she evens appears to be empathetic to Charlotte and her diamond-less life. “Oh, you poor kid!”
Mae soon give Charlotte an opportunity to be approved of. The smoking and drinking questons pass the test and Mae starts giving Charlotte some advice. Small gifts of cliches wrapped in compliments and just a whiff of something sexy. “Then you’ll keep your soft skin. That’s how I kept mine. I always use baby oil. But the secret is it has to be warm, and you have to have a man put it on you – all over.”
Mae keeps the established pecking order. It is very clear she is intelligent and sharp. Maybe being interviewed by a woman is heightening these things as she can be less reliant on her flirty, sexy alter ego.
Another implied insult, when she says “they always send a man” and how she never bothered with girls. Charlotte seems to not notice this putdown or other manipulative behaviour and this wins Mae over.
I like the reflection that Charlotte holds up a mirror to Mae West “that projects back the myth to the original mortal.” Mae does, seem to duck in and out of her carefully cutivated persona and we see glimpses of a real person.
The scarf coming off seems like an eccetric request, but we know someone like Mae sees it as a favour – fashion tips from the great, a sisterly sharing. We still get the cliches, the sex, the men, the bedroom, but in between we get an insight to another Mae West.
More of the endless talk about the endless men gives way to insights about her mother. Mae admits there is something better in life than diamonds – her family. “I was never jealous of my brother and sister,” seems like an apology for receiving all their parents’ attentions.
Ever the professional, she slips back to the Mae West she is known for. Her love affair with the stage, the implied suggestion in the bedroom visit, her attitude towards money. But we get the best insight right at the end, when she admits she buys some of her own diamonds. This tells me how well Mae West knows herself – the persona and the real woman. This single admission allows Charlotte to see how most of the shimmering light surrounding Mae is a seriers of smoke and mirrors she has worked to her advantage.
I think Mae West sounded like a very strong woman. She was definately the ‘original’ and used cinema and movies as a way to constuct a carefull cultivated persona. Mae has become larger than life. “She pointed out that although she was Diamond Lil, Lil was not Mae because there was no more Mae West.” I would have loved to see what she could have done with twitter.
