Purpose starts to give way to posturing among pols, celebs
by Beth Teitell

Wednesday, October 3, 2001

Even as the Talk-Industrial Complex numbs us with its endlessly repeated question - ``When, if ever, will we get back to normal?'' - that's precisely what's happening.

Yesterday, in fact, there was a news story about squabbling between New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the state over who would coordinate the charitable groups helping the victims of the Sept. 11 attack.

I'm going to help the victims! NO, I'M going to help the victims.

Less than a month after the terrorist attack and it's back to business - and pettiness - as usual.

Actually, it took less than a week. At the Sept. 15 memorial service at Washington's National Cathedral, some of President George W. Bush's people complained that former President Bill Clinton lingered for more than a half-hour, threatening to steal the spotlight from their guy.

Clinton advisers defended his conduct, the New York Times reported, and asserted that he had even made a point of not touring the ruins of the World Trade Center before Mr. Bush.

True change takes months and years, not days, so of course it was only a matter of time before viewing - or having viewed - Ground Zero became a sought-after credential, a contemporary, morbid version of being ushered past Studio 54's velvet rope.

Although some commentators have claimed post-Sept. 11 America is no longer interested in shallow celebrity stories, the gossip columns in New York are filled with items about which star toured the devastation, how they were received by workers, and, in the case of fight promoter Don King, what he was wearing (a denim jacket covered with spangles and emblazoned with his own likeness on the back).

Although the star visits have met with some skepticism - ``Why do we need a bunch of celebrities distracting people?'' one person asked a Daily News reporter - many if not all the trips have been in response to a plea from New York City's Office of Emergency Management, which, unlike the TV commentators, knows a star is still a star, and a helmet signed by Sarah Jessica Parker, or a photo with a couple of ``Sopranos'' cast members, can indeed lift rescue workers' spirits.

Which is to say the star magazines have found a way to survive in serious times. People and Us have simply shifted the backdrop of their coverage from Spago to Ground Zero, from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles to backstage at the Sept. 21 telethon.

``Hollywood's heavies mingled quietly,'' People reported solemnly in its Oct. 8 issue, ``exchanging hugs instead of air kisses. Tom Cruise nestled on the sofa with his girlfriend, Penelope Cruz, while nearby Meg Ryan cooed over Cindy Crawford's 18-day-old baby, Kaia.''

And as sad as the tragedy is, People couldn't help itself from jazzing up its cover with just the teensiest bit of non-terrorist coverage:

``World's sexiest freshman!'' a line along the top of the magazine reads. ``Wills goes to college.''

If that isn't back to normal, I don't know what would be.