EVA LONGORIA'S OTHER SIDE
By Bob Tourtellotte
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Eva Longoria is annoyed. The Latina beauty on hit television show "Desperate Housewives" is bugged by all the newspaper, magazine and Web gossip about her sex life when there are more important issues to think about.Good opening line. The brief sentence (Eva Longoria is annoyed") is stronger than a long one would be (it's always a matter of judgment). It captures the reader's attention. Then follows a synoymic sentence that replaces "Eva Longoria" and adds information about her in an easy way ("The Latina beauty on hit television show"). I don't know what happened to the article ("the") before "hit television show," but there should be one. "Bugged" is an example of a strong (and colorful) verb: "bugged" means "annoyed." "Don't bug me!" (After all, we're annoyed by bugs!)
She is as comfortable talking about U.S. immigration policy and the plight of migrant farm workers as she is having her bikini-clad body on a mega-sized magazine cover spread out in the Nevada desert so that it can be seen from outer space.
Now the writer uses an unusually long sentence, also just right for his purpose. The long sentence seems to have comic purpose, as if the sentence contains as much as Longoria does! It uses the commonplace of contrast as well as that of example (the writer gives examples in both instances).
Longoria, 31, is a beauty, but her brain is big, too and she wants folks to know it. So when the media focuses on her sex life with boyfriend Tony Parker, as happened last month, Longoria gets irritated.
"It's annoying, absolutely," she told Reuters ahead of Friday's release of her new movie, thriller "The Sentinel," in which she portrays a rookie U.S. Secret Service agent.
Dialogue quotes are well chosen. What is missing is a selective description of the subject. (In this way, this is not a perfect model of how to write a profile.) This is apparently because readers supposedly know her and how she looks (she's a famous model); besides, there are pictures included. Still, description is not simply documentarian, as in a police report; rather description always has (or should have) a point of view, or focus: the criminal would be selectively described by his scowl, the suspicious person by his darting eyes, the studious person by her near-sighted gaze, the vain person by how he feels the pimple on his face, etc. The point is to make the person come alive.
"I respect good journalism. I respect certain newspapers and certain publications, and they are just watered down by the bounty for gossip and pictures and information that is irrelevant and uninteresting," she said.
Of course, a lot of
Note the selective use of a single-word quote here ("flattering"), showing that the writer is in control and is not simply passively quoting large chunks of quotes without purpose or focus. Note also the use of indirect discourse ("She called the publicity 'flattering'").
Longoria skyrocketed to stardom in 2004 on "Desperate Housewives" as the sexy Gabrielle Soliz whose skin-tight jeans and skimpy dresses often raise the eyebrows -- not to mention the ire -- of the other neighborhood wives.
Here we get some background information on the subject. Note that the order (the timeline) is not in a straight line, nor need it be. Present is followed by past, back to present, then future.
The show premiered on U.S. TV and became an instant hit. It averages more than 20 million U.S. viewers weekly and is now a global phenomenon seen in 200 countries.
But beyond the Hollywood glitz, Longoria holds a degree in kinesiology from Texas A&M University - Kingsville. She is a spokeswoman for Padres Contra el Cancer, which is dedicated to helping Latino kids with the disease, and works with the United Farm Workers labor union.
The writer here gives examples of a life beyond Hollywood.
She said it was "unfortunate" that in the United States -- a nation of immigrants -- some lawmakers want to deport illegal aliens and fence off the Mexico/U.S. border.
"Mexicans contribute an enormous amount to our society, economically and socially," she said. "I don't think this administration can afford to have things end badly."
The writer gives a relevant quote concerning Longoria's social activism. Note, like I said, that in magazines movie titles are placed in quotes, but in books and scholarship they should be in italics, like this type looks.
Longoria has politics on her mind a lot these days, in real life and in the movies.
In "The Sentinel," she co-stars with Michael Douglas and Kiefer Sutherland. They play Secret Service agents who clash when the president's life is threatened by assassins. Longoria is a sharp rookie who is teamed with Sutherland in what is her first role in a major Hollywood movie.
Note how the writers insures coherence by adding the comment that Longoria's role is not the lead, leading easily into the next part of the profile and the next quotation ("But Longoria said she was not looking to top movie marquees," etc.).
She is not the headlining actress; her part supports the male leads. But Longoria said she was not looking to top movie marquees yet, and did not need the added pressure of being the sole star responsible for the film's box office.
A good writer blends indirect and direct discourse for variety. Just above is an example of indirect discourse, followed by direct discourse (quoted text):
"I wanted to be in a good, ensemble cast," she said. "It was an amazing opportunity to work with great actors in a less stressful environment."
Unlike many actors and actresses who proclaim that they do not plan careers and that roles just seem to come along, Longoria says she strategizes about her choices.
Note how the writer develops another theme: personal strategy, introduced in the above paragraph and developed below:
She graduated from college with plans to work in sports medicine and become a trainer for a professional sports team. Parker is a star player for basketball's San Antonio Spurs.
After bringing the subject's life to the present, the writer goes back to the past again:
Longoria never dreamed of movie stardom back on her family's ranch near the south Texas town of Corpus Christi.
"We couldn't afford to go to movies," she said.
Her fantasy was to be on TV. She won a modeling contest that sent her to Hollywood where she began building a resume. She did extra work, then bit parts on "Beverly Hills 90210" and small roles on soap operas like "The Bold and The Beautiful."
"I planned. It was definitely intentional," she said.
Note how the writer takes his subject to lower levels of generality: from general strategy, to movies, to a particular movie:
But movies -- not TV -- are the top rung on the career ladder for actors in Hollywood, so after only one season on "Desperate Housewives," she shot "The Sentinel" -- during her summer vacation.
Later this year, fans will see Longoria in a low-budget film "Harsh Times" that she shot over the Christmas holiday. She portrays a lawyer who grew up poor but became successful.
"It's a dark, dark drama. Very indie," she said. "Anytime you do a good independent film ... you're respected in a circle of critics and a circle in the industry. That was definitely a choice." "Harsh Times" is expected to be released this fall, just in time for Hollywood's Oscar season.
(NOTE: "Indie" is slang for "independent" [movie], not funded by a big movie company so often with unusual subject matter.) Note the weak ending, which would not be good in a regular profile. This is not an ideal profile, since it doesn't meet all the standards. For example, it's part publicity as well as profile. But what would be a weak ending in a profile works well here since the goal really is to advertise the subject's next film (that's why stars give interviews); and what occurs at the end has most emphasis. Also, the subject was probably interviewed by phone, so setting is non-existent. You must spend a fair amount on describing the setting of the person you interview: the office, home, restaurant, etc. Finally, as already mentioned, the writer omits any physical description (this includes not only physical traits, but physical actions, like rubbing the nose, squinting, chain smoking, etc. all of which reveal character, whether in movies or in prose).
But clearly the writer lived up to the title, showing Longoria's "other side," giving examples, quoting speech, and adding background details to fill out his subject.
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