Word: midlerisms
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...character, Bruckheimer says, is far removed from the real Midler, a "shy" woman who prefers cardigans and jeans to mermaid outfits and plunging bustlines. "One of her favorite expressions is 'That's unseemly,'" Bruckheimer says. "She's well mannered, a real lady." Where "Bette" frets about preserving her cheekbones--she seeks out plastic surgery in a mid-life crisis--Midler has made a crusade of preserving New York City parks. "The character is much broader and sappier," she says. "She's harebrained and sexier, and I like those things." But there are similarities. Midler too has a husband...
...capable of any other kind--hyperventilating with stage fright before a show. "The biggest names in Hollywood, with their knives drawn!" she wails. "What if they hate me? They're gonna hate me!" She moans, she wheedles, she feigns deafness--then takes the stage and belts out Midler's signature song, Friends. The scene, meant to introduce her as a force of nature, has funny moments, but there's something offensive about a sitcom metafictionally begging you to love its star in its first three minutes. Make no mistake, Bette loves its lead, all too well. It indulges her with...
...problem with Bette is not Bette but "Bette." Miss M is a perfect stage persona, high decibel enough to reach the cheap seats. But TV needs character, not caricature, and interplay, not vamping. When "Bette" sings Wind Beneath My Wings to make up to her hubby, Midler is really playing to the studio audience. If this were satire, like Grosse Pointe or even Cybill, it might show her character as a bit self-absorbed. But since Bette is at most a loving spoof, the message, in "Bette's" words, is "I'm a goddess!" Even if you agree...
...plugged Bette heavily during Survivor and hopes it will draw some of that summer hit's young viewers. That seems iffy, not because its star was born in the middle of the past century but because its premise was. From her start belting '40s show tunes in the '70s, Midler has been a revivalist at heart, and her hooray-for-Hollywood vehicle is Jack Benny redux, a wannabe I Love Lucy with Midler as both Lucy and Ricky but without the innovation of its forebears. That said, it has the ingredients of a much better show. The writing is sometimes...
...vivacious Midler, who could shine if her character broadens to let her stretch her skills, not just her vocal cords. Midler is an actress, after all, even if an ageist movie biz tends to forget that. As she says, "There is still a lot of life in this old girl. I think I'm funnier, look better and am better than ever before, and I think it's stupid to quit." Let's hope she doesn't. And let's hope Bette lets Bette be a better "Bette...