THE INDUSTRY SAYS GOODBYE TO ONE OF ITS MOST ICONIC WOMEN.
by Siya Rajan
Rebecca Young, a senior communication studies major, turns on her television every morning to catch the reruns of Fashion Police on E! Entertainment.
She just wants to keep Joan Rivers in her life.
Leaving behind big shoes to fill in the fashion and entertainment industry, Joan Rivers, a fashion icon, comedian, actress and television show host, died on Sept. 4, 2014.
“This show is not going to be the same without her. There is only one Joan Rivers,” Young said. “I have watched Fashion Police ever since it started in 2010 and Joan Rivers had a way with words that made everyone laugh and she did not care about what people thought about her.”
Rivers debuted in Hollywood in the 1960s. She was the first woman to host a late night network television show, “The Late Show with Joan Rivers” and the first to ask, “who are you wearing?” on the red carpet. Rivers transformed the fashion industry for designers to compete for best dressed, and for celebrities to actually know who they are wearing at events.
“Joan Rivers, usually working in tandem with beloved daughter Melissa Rivers, changed the landscape of the award show interview forever when she started inquiring of each shining star who walked the carpet which designer had made her gown, be it fabulous or fugly,” according to E! Online.
Jordan Beeks, a senior strategic and corporate communication and business administration double major, was a big fan of Rivers.
“Joan Rivers was an icon, she’s one of those people that you can’t get away from even if you want to. I respect her for that because with Joan River’s, she kind of just says things how it is,” Beeks said. “Her criticisms are always on point. They say what we were all thinking but no one else want’s to say it and she does.”
Beek’s knew someone who managed a property that Rivers stayed at and has heard some ridiculous stories about her.
“She would get her sheets changed three times a day, and just the things she would say off the cuff when she was walking around,” Beeks said. “It made her seem that she was a real person and not just a stage persona. Joan Rivers is always Joan Rivers and that’s really cool.”
Phene Wardlaw, a sophomore English major, appreciated Rivers, but was a bit scared of her facial features.
“I think she was a very funny lady and she was one of the first female comedians,” Wardlaw said. “I used to watch Fashion Police, and what she said on it was really funny, but her appearance kind of scared me.”
Young thinks that Rivers transformed the entertainment and fashion industry to what it is now.
“She basically created the red carpet by commenting on what celebrities were wearing,” Young said. “She has always said to keep laughing, which is something that I think is really cool because people need to laugh more in their life.”
Not even a funeral can bring Rivers down. Here's what she said of that day coming:
“When I die (and yes, Melissa, that day will come; and yes, Melissa, everything's in your name), I want my funeral to be a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action…. I want Craft Services, I want paparazzi and I want publicists making a scene! I want it to be Hollywood all the way,” said Rivers.
“I don’t want some rabbi rambling on; I want Meryl Streep crying, in five different accents. I don’t want a eulogy; I want Bobby Vinton to pick up my head and sing ‘Mr. Lonely.’”
“I want to look gorgeous, better dead than I do alive. I want to be buried in a Valentino gown and I want Harry Winston to make me a toe tag. And I want a wind machine so that even in the casket my hair is blowing just like Beyonce’s,” quoted Rivers.