The Times - UK (2022-05-28)

the times | Saturday May 28 2022 47

Wo r l d

W

hen Ellen
DeGeneres brought
the curtain down on
her daytime talk
show this week after
almost two decades, it was the end
of an era in more ways than one.
The television landscape, much
like America, has been transformed
since 2003, when the first episode
of The Ellen DeGeneres Show was

Exit Ellen as the curtain falls on America’s daytime chat show era

broadcast. Following in the footsteps

of Oprah Winfrey, the first queen of

daytime TV, DeGeneres was a

fixture for millions who tuned in for

chummy celebrity interviews, light

comedy and charity giveaways.

However, the comedian and

actress departs after a sharp decline

in viewers and amid allegations that

her sunny persona is a façade.

DeGeneres, 64, also leaves behind a

daytime talk show genre well past its

peak, with the days of hosts

becoming pop culture touchstones

all but over thanks to streaming.

Stephen Galloway, dean of

Chapman University’s film school, in

California, believes it is almost

impossible for a daytime talk show

to recapture the relevance of past

eras, never mind the audience.

“What’s considered a success

today would have been considered a

disaster 25 years ago,” he said.

“You’re seeing a fragmentation of

the audience, which in some ways

reflects the fragmentation of society.

So that will never come back.

“The era of daytime TV was built

on people staying at home and —

quote, unquote — housewives. We

don’t use those terms anymore.

Society has changed. And so first,

you don’t have the basic audience

that they can appeal to at home.

“And second, the few people who

are at home have a plethora of

choices. They can watch what they

want, when they want, and in any

quantity they want. And that’s

radically different from a couple

of decades ago. The amazing

thing is a show like this survived

19 years.”

DeGeneres’s story is a remarkable

one. After a successful stand-up

career in the 1980s she became the

star of her own sitcom, Ellen, in

1994. Three years later in what
      remains a landmark moment in
      American television, she came out
      as gay. Her show was cancelled not
      long afterwards.
      She made a triumphant return
      with her talk show and for decades
      has been one of the most famous
      LGBTQ people in America. She has
      welcomed just about every A-lister,
      with Michelle Obama and the
      Duchess of Sussex among those who
      have taken a seat. But the on-screen
      levity allegedly masked a darker side
      to DeGeneres. When the cameras

stopped rolling, she is said to have

presided over a hostile work

environment with “racism, fear and

intimidation” rife and sexual

harassment rampant behind the

scenes. The allegations, made in a

2020 Buzzfeed News article, dealt a

crippling blow to her reputation.

An on-air apology was not enough

to persuade viewers, who had

switched off in their droves, to

return. She lost more than a million

following the scandal, dropping

from 2.6 million to 1.5 million.

DeGeneres’s next move will be

closely watched. She has said that

she will take time to consider her

future but, first, she and her wife,

Portia de Rossi, will travel to

Rwanda, where she has a campus

supporting gorilla conservation.

Keiran

Southern

los angeles

After Risa Mickenberg identified her-
self as a hermette — a female hermit —
proudly retreating from the world
while living in the heart of New York
City, she got a lot of emails.
It seemed to defeat the point of the
exercise. “Getting publicity for this is
such a ridiculous thing,” she said. It was
also tricky to lead a movement of
people who want to be by themselves.
But she believed in countering a social
stigma that made women feel uncom-
fortable about being alone.
Mickenberg, 55, a playwright and
film director, proposed to correct this
with a glossy publication, Hermette
Magazine, “a lifestyle magazine for as-

Hermettes want to be alone... together

United States
Will Pavia New York

piring lady hermits” which would do for

hermettes what The World of Interiors

does for arty wallpaper, making it

“something that’s the dream that

people have, instead of being

something to be afraid of”

“Being alone is a wonder-

ful thing,” she insisted.

Mickenberg first set

out her stall as a her-

mette three years ago,

convening a gathering

of likeminded New

Yorkers. “There is a her-

mette inside of all of us,

waiting to stay in,” she de-

clared. Hermettes were those prepared

to practise DEY, a variation on DIY,

which stands for “Do Everything Your-

self”, she said. She suggested that they

could adopt vows never to mar-

ry or have children and

would use fashion “as an

avoidance technique”.

She asked: “Would a

cloak of invisibility be

your go-to garment?”

“Yes!” shouted a

woman in the audience.

She advised her disci-

ples to “have big ideas”

but to “keep them to your-

self” — unless, of course, they

wished to share them in the pages

of Hermette Magazine.

“It began, really as a lark,” she said.

But she liked “the idea of this move-

ment and having it be a fun and in a way

an absurd thing to do, to have a commu-

nity of people who want to be alone”.

In 2020 she conceived of the perfect

hermette accessory: a mobile phone

made of wood, that would not connect

you with anybody. Made by a musician

friend, these are for sale on her website

starting at $25 and have proved un-

expectedly popular.

Going out with one of those instead

of an iPhone “changes my entire expe-

rience for the day,” she said. “If people

stopped using their phones and started

using wooden phones it would have a

huge effect on the world.”

Also offered for the aspiring her-

mette is a cloak-like garment called a

Djoodie for $350. Adaptable to any

season, it would allow wearers to “pare

your closet down to just one item”.

The movement has attracted more

than 30 members from Scotland, Ger-

many, Mexico, Greece and India but

Mickenberg argued that New York was

the perfect place for the modern her-

mette. Hermits throughout history

have usually been male and preferred

mountaintops. But Mickenberg said:

“Have you seen the pictures of Ever-

est?” “You are never really alone... in

New York you can be alone together.”

Susan Hwang, 49, a musician who

lives in Manhattan’s East Village, said

Mickenberg’s hermette lifestyle reso-

nated with her and created “glamour

and mystique around introversion”.

“I think [that’s] what I’ve been secret-

ly aspiring to be all this time.”

Stay out of touch with this

wooden mobile phone, described

as the perfect Hermette accessory

f being

of”

r-

,

de-

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ry or

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bbbut to

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wished to sh

ofHermette Mag

his

described

I

f you’re a

Hollywood star

there’s a good

chance you have a

personal assistant

and even a personal

shopper (Keiran

Southern writes).

Now, however, there’s

a new must-have: a

personal masseuse, in

particular one who

specialises in lymphatic

drainage.

The city’s actors,

singers and models are

constantly on the

lookout for products and

treatments designed to

preserve and enhance

their beauty, and

practitioners of

lymphatic massage,

intended to encourage

the movement of lymph

fluids around the body,

are suddenly much in

demand. Fans of the

procedure believe it

helps to remove toxins

from the body and

makes them feel lighter.

Rebecca Faria, 29, a

Brazilian masseuse in

Los Angeles, boasts a

celebrity-filled client list

that includes the Friends

star Jennifer Aniston,

the singer Ariana

Grande and the model

Hailey Bieber. Faria

told The Wall Street

Journal that she

massages the legs,

stomach, arms and

back before using a

variety of machines on

the body, including

radio frequency and

ultrasound equipment.

A two-hour session

costs $480 and such is

the demand she has a

two-year waiting list

at her salon, Detox

by Rebecca, with

2,300 people on it.

Olivia Culpo, a

former Miss Universe

who has five million

Instagram followers,

gets the treatment

twice a month. “I’m on a

plane once a week, so

I’m constantly trying to

combat jet lag and

inflammation,” she said.

“It’s like hitting a reset

button for me.”

Faria studied as a

masseuse in her home

country before

sharpening her skills in

Australia. She told Los

Angeles Confidential

magazine that she

Rebecca Faria, centre,

counts Hailey Bieber, left,

and Ariana Grande among

her extensive list of

Hollywood clients wanting

lymphatic drainage

decided to start her

business in Los Angeles

as there was a strong

interest in wellness and

beauty. She has amassed

a star-studded clientele

through word of mouth

rather than any kind of

online drive and did not

even have an Instagram

account when she

launched her business.

In the early days she

offered massages free

of charge and took

Ubers to Beverly

Hills, where most of

her clients lived.

Publicity from

bloggers with large

social media

followings soon

allowed her to grow

the business.

Faria said she spent

three years building up

trust with her clients.

“They feel comfortable

to refer me because they

know I know how to

behave myself,” she said.

“I won’t act weird

because they are

celebrities. I am

discreet. I am simple, so

they feel comfortable.

They feel comfortable by

referring me to their

friends.”

Two-year wait for the

woman who rubs LA’s

celebs up the right way