📙 Part 2: Describe a famous person you'd like to meet

This episode's vocabulary

Up close and personal (idiom) – physically close to someone or something, allowing for a direct and detailed experience. → The documentary gave viewers an up close and personal look at the life of a lion.

Meet your idols (phrase) – to meet people you greatly admire; often used in the expression "never meet your idols," which suggests it can be a disappointing experience. → He was nervous to meet the author, hoping the reality wouldn't ruin his perception of his idol.

Notorious (adj) – famous for something bad. → The city is notorious for its terrible traffic.

Infamous (adj) – well-known for some bad quality or deed. → He is infamous for his outrageous behavior at parties.

Cultivate an image (phrase) – to try to develop a particular image or reputation for yourself. → The politician carefully cultivated an image as a man of the people.

Bimbo (noun, slang) – an attractive but unintelligent or frivolous young woman. → She was tired of being typecast as the stereotypical dumb blonde bimbo in movies.

Superficial (adj) – not thinking or showing any understanding of serious or important matters. → He's fun to be with, but he's very superficial and only cares about appearances.

Generate controversy (phrase) – to cause a lot of public disagreement or argument about something. → The film's ending was designed to generate controversy and discussion.

Painted in a different light (idiom) – described or shown in a new or different way. → After her charity work was revealed, the actress was painted in a completely different light.

Authentic (adj) – real, true, or genuine. → I would love to have an authentic conversation with her, not just a rehearsed interview.

Generational wealth (noun) – assets passed down from one generation of a family to the next. → The company's success was built on generational wealth from the shipping industry.

Demure (adj) – reserved, modest, and shy. → She has transformed from a party girl into a more demure and serious public figure.

To be cut up about something (phrasal verb) – to be very upset or distressed about something. → He was really cut up about not getting the promotion.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe a famous person you'd like to meet. You should say who he or she is, how you know them, where you would like to meet him or her, and explain why you would like to meet this person.

Rory: To be honest, I'm struggling to think of anyone famous I'd like to meet up close and personal, just because I can't. And also, people always say you should never meet your idols. But if I have to choose someone, then it would actually be Paris Hilton. When it comes to who she is, she's a rather notorious heiress of the Hilton family. They're a family that's built wealth off of hotels. However, she, herself, is pretty infamous for this persona and image that she's cultivated over the years of being a bit of a bimbo who doesn't care much about anything but fashion or other superficial things.

In terms of how I know her, well, she was in the media a lot when I was growing up and when I was entering university. It always seemed to be making a scene or generating some kind of controversy. Nowadays, however, she's often on social media but is painted in a rather different light because the context is more serious as is the content of what is being said. For example, a recent video showed her talking in the United States Congress about various media issues which was extremely interesting to see.

With regard to how and where I'd like to meet her, I haven't really thought about it much, and I don't suppose it matters either. It would just be interesting to see how she interacts with people on a more personal and authentic level, and find out how she's achieved various things in her life. It would be easy to say it's because she has access to all of this generational wealth and while that might be partially true, I think there might be more to it than that.

As for why I would like to meet her, honestly, I had to pick someone, so this was just a random choice. But the more I think about it, the more interested I would actually be to find out how she has gone from being a sort of typical overprivileged nepo baby to something a bit more demure and mindful. Not only that, it would also be interesting to find out how she has managed to manipulate the media in such a way as to reinforce this new brand of hers.

However, if it never happens, I doubt I'll be too cut up about it. Like I said, sometimes it's best not to meet famous people.