Joan Rivers Research Paper

Joan Rivers: A Trailblazer

As a writer, producer, comedian, and actress, Joan Rivers blazed a trail for other female celebrities. With an interest in show business, she dreamed of becoming a famous actress and worked hard to achieve that reality. As a youngster, she appeared in school plays and when she became a teenager, she was an extra in the movie Mr. Universe. Throughout her career, she met challenges head on to become a star. During a regular surgery, the celebrity died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 81, leaving a legacy that lives on (1). Ms. Rivers background revealed her early interest and progression in entertainment, the effects of her comedic style to different aspects of her life.

Joan Rivers, was

born Joan Alexandra Molinsky, in Brooklyn, New York on June 8, 1933. Before entering show business, she worked various jobs, such as a tour guide at Rockefeller Center, a writer/proofreader at an advertising agency, and a fashion consultant at Bond Clothing Stores. After she got into show business, her agent, Tony Rivers, suggested she change her name in order to appear more mainstream. This was typical at the time. Rivers’ last name, Molinsky, was not seen as a very good draw for a fan-base (2). Ms. Rivers needed a body of admirers of her entertainment to gain and maintain a celebrity status.
During the 1950s, Rivers’ professional entertainment career began.

She performed in more plays, movies, comedy clubs, and television (T.V.). One of her first national appearances was on the Tonight Show, hosted by Jack Parr. Her tough-talking and straightforward style of satirical humor was both praised and criticized. Women were not favorably seen as comedians ad as a survivor of sexism, she was a victim and a rebel. Outspoken and displaying light brisk motions, Ms. Rivers did not care when people thought she should be softer spoken like a “lady.” In 50s, the role of a lady was repressive and constrictive in many ways. Society placed high importance on women being obliging housewives and doting mothers. However, this was not her style, and it was good that she gave another view of a female comedian. In her comedy routines, she joked about some of the controversies that housewives, mothers, and other women faced (3). Rivers’ focused on their vulnerabilities and shortcomings, which she made common

banter.
Nevertheless, Joan Rivers took her humor too far at times.

Frequently, she joked about Elizabeth Taylor and Adele’s weight. It has been nearly universal for women and girls to have weight anxieties and negative body images, yet Rivers targeted these issues affecting females. If Ms. Rivers had been overweight, these kind of jokes would have likely been more tolerable because she would have been defacing herself, which was a frequent style among comedians. When criticized for her degrading statements, she did not apologize and responded by saying that her comments were only jokes. Another example of her being over the top was when she made fun of the Holocaust, which was a genocide of over six million European Jews and non-Jewish victims killed by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany , and the World War II collaborators with the Nazis (4). Rivers joked that her husband lost all of his family in the Holocaust. She was again criticized and said it was her way to remind people of that horrible period of history. The Holocaust was such a devastating experience, why would she find any kind of humor in it. Thus, no subject appeared off-limits to her style of satire, even though she lost some of her people to the

Holocaust.
Another point, Joan’s comedy hit a new low when she joked about a well-publicized Cleveland kidnapping. For 10 years, three young Cleveland women, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina DeJesus, were kidnapped and abused by Ariel Castor in his basement dungeon. In 2006, one of the women gave birth to his child. On May 8, 2013, Castor was charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape. He pled guilty of 937 criminal counts of rape, kidnapping, and aggravated murder, as part of a plea bargain. Another condition of his negotiated agreement was the demolition of his house of horrors (5). In response to the women’s plight, Rivers joked that they “lived rent free for a decade and one of them has a book deal. A couple of them are not in a psych ward. They’re OK. I bet you, within three years, one of them will be on Dancing with the Stars.” Also, Rivers compared her luxurious Manhattan apartment to where the young captives were imprisoned in a house belonging to Castro when she said, “Those women in the basement in Cleveland had more room” (6). She was criticized, but gave no apology. Even though, Ms. Rivers appeared insensitive to the horrible Cleveland situation, that may have been her way to get more exposure at any cost.
At another time, in order to remain in the limelight, Rivers targeted public political figures. For example, she joked that President Obama was gay and first lady Michelle was transgendered. There was nothing wrong with being of either sexual identity, if that were accurate. Just because Rivers officiates at same-sex marriages, does not make her an authority on other people’s sex. No one has that kind of accuracy. Even the first American couple were not above her comedy. Ultimately, Rivers never bowed to political correctness, and she did not fully care about that. Still, when she died the President wrote her daughter, Melissa, a handwritten note of condolence, showing that he could take Rivers’ jokes (7). Interestingly, many public figures took her political satire in stride, which brought them more visibility and attention like she wanted for herself.
On the other hand, Joan had to deal with her own trials after becoming a regular guest and permanent guest host of The Tonight Show for about 18 years. It was hosted by Johnny Carson, and he told her that she was going to be a star on the air. She considered him her mentor, until she accepted a host spot on her own nightly T.V. show on FOX, which was a much smaller station at the time. This led him to blackball her, no longer being supportive and ostracizing her publically. He refused to talk to her again. Their breakup contributed to her show being cancelled. She was saddened that he ended their long-term relationship, and she did not find his rejection of her to be funny (8). In an interview, she said that Carson probably would not have rejected her if she had been a man accepting a show of his own.
During her routines, Rivers talked about her family even when she felt rejected by them. For illustration, her close relationship with her only child became strained as a result of a family tragedy—the suicide of Rivers' husband, Edgar Rosenberg. He was Rivers’ manager, and he took his life after she announced her intention to separate from him after 22 years of marriage. This was also at a time that she was struggling with her career after she lost her T.V. show, and he felt responsible for that. She even found humor in his death when she said that she had scattered his ashes at Neiman Marcus, so she could visit five times a week (9). Melissa did not think her mother’s statement was funny, and she blamed Joan for her father’s suicide, but eventually they were able to reconcile their differences.
A while after Rosenberg’s suicide, Joan and Melissa accepted movie roles. They were based on their lives in the movie Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story (1994). Through their performances, they were able to work out their grief, blame, and guilt. As they played their characters, their relationship grew. It did not seem to bother Ms. Rivers to show the world her transparency and candor (10). Many people would find it difficult living such a public life, but Rivers seemed to relish in it, accepting that as being the price of being a celebrity.
Unlike most celebrities, Rivers revealed her many face-lifts. She used her surgeries in her comedy routines. Even though she was an attractive woman, she told self-deprecating jokes about getting older. She did not believe in aging gracefully, if a person had the option to pay for a more youthful look. Ms. Rivers said that she had so many cosmetic surgeries that when she died, they would donate her body to Tupperware (11). This celebrity used every opportunity to make a joke, regardless of the circumstance. In addition to being a celebrity, Ms. Rivers was a role model, which she probably realized, but did not take very seriously. By having too many facial surgeries, she was sending a message to her fans. For instance, years ago, one of her fans, a middle-aged woman had a face-lift by a medical doctor. Unfortunately, the woman experienced complications with leakage as a result of her treatment. After that unsuccessful procedure, she had several corrective surgeries with little positive effect. For other fans who could not afford such procedures, they were buying at-home kits to make themselves look younger. These kits were not FDA-approved or had no proof that they worked. These practices caused physical deformities that were irreversible and devastating (12). It also seemed rather odd when an 81-year-old woman, like Ms. Rivers, was trying to look so much younger. Joan’s use of plastic surgery was widely known, but unfortunately gave a false image of aging.
Rivers died during surgery in August 2014, and people assumed it was for another cosmetic operation, but that was not the case. She experienced serious complications and stopped breathing during a routine throat procedure. Her numerous other procedures compromised her immune system and ability to survive. A short time after the celebrity’s
65 death, the media said that her surgeon took a selfie picture with her after her death. This was horrible for the doctor to do, even if she had been a star. His actions were deplorable, but he found some humor in it. Joan probably would have found humor in such an act, too (13). Nevertheless, her daughter sued her mother’s doctor and won a large settlement for medical malpractice.