I just got an email from Bob Pagani (aka
Cranky Media Guy) pointing out that one of the female characters in Will Smith's new movie
Hitch is named Allegra Cole. This sounds as if it's a homage to
Allegra Coleman, who was a hoax movie star created by
Esquire back in 1996. Not having seen
Hitch yet, I have no idea why its creator would have wanted to include this allusion to a hoax from the 1990s. Is the Allegra Cole character fake or artificial in some way? Looking at my page about Allegra Coleman, I also noticed an eerie similarity between her and the girl from the Dusty ads. Just a coincidence, or does this have some kind of deeper meaning?
Comments
"Holy Moley. Alex gave out Cranky Media Guy's real name. Is this a trend? Who's next? Will The Council be alerted? Will it come to the attention of... "Raoul"? Tell me. I must know."
Sheesh, would Alex give out my REAL name? Duh, of course not! My REAL name is Jeff Gannon! Oops, I shouldn't have said that, should I?
"The Allegra Coleman thing wasn't a big deal at all. Most people have never heard of it. But Hollywood insiders would likely know about it since it was a joke about how Hollywood manufactures celebrities. Therefore, it seems unlikely that a presumably Hollywood-savvy writer could have written a script including a character named 'Allegra Cole' just by accident."
Alex is right. The Esquire thing was cute, but it wasn't a big deal. It's probably just us hoax-types who remember it.
I don't know if "Hollywood insiders" in general would know about it, but it seems as if the scriptwriter did. The name's just too close. I mean, it isn't impossible that it's a coincidence or that the writer sort of half-remembered the name without realizing where it came from, but it seems to me that it's probably a deliberate reference. Why he didn't just use "Coleman" as the last name I have no idea.
http://www.wga.org/craft/interviews/bisch.html
He moved to New York and became a magazine writer in 1996, just when the Allegra Coleman hoax happened. But in 2000 he took a serious look at where he was going in life and realized that the magazine he was writing for was "not Esquire and I may not be Tom Wolfe."
So he quit his job and wrote the Hitch screenplay, and while he may not have been working for Esquire, he was able to slip an allusion to Esquire into the script. In other words, the use of that name is just a sly reference to his roots in the New York magazine industry.
"So he quit his job and wrote the Hitch screenplay, and while he may not have been working for Esquire, he was able to slip an allusion to Esquire into the script. In other words, the use of that name is just a sly reference to his roots in the New York magazine industry."
Nice detective work there, Alex. Yeah, it sounds as if this guy kind of pines for the glory days at Esquire. It was a pretty big deal, magazine-wise, back in the late 60's-early 70's. Lots of attention-getting and/or controversial covers, including one with the infamous Lt. Calley holding a Vietnamese kid. The days of glory at Esquire are WAY behind it now, however.
Keep this up and she'll never earn enough to buy herself some jeans.
"Alex, you're not saying the Dusty girl is fictitious, are you?
Keep this up and she'll never earn enough to buy herself some jeans."
God, we wouldn't want THAT, would we? The poor girl is obviously poverty-stricken. I mean, just LOOK how she's bursting out of that hand-me-down T-shirt she's forced to wear!
PS - I think you can portray disdain by simply typing... try d-i-s-d-a-i-n. 😊 Of course, that's probably not funny either...
...Sorry. I only realized later how harshly I'd judged. Can I blame it on antibiotics??
"hey i really liked that movie hitch me and my friend were crying at the end because will smith and that other girl. also you and albert. okay i just wanted to tell you this and can you tell will smith that he fine for me thank you."
Ciara, if you are over the age of 10, please tell your parents to immediately sue your school district for taking money under false pretenses.
I still have an agent, and I'm working steadily (if only in small parts and some commercials). That's more than many actresses can claim. 💋
Birth name: Alison Gertrude Larter
Date of birth: 28 February 1976
Los Angeles, California, USA
Mini biography:
A native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Ali began modeling at age 13 and traveled the world before moving to Los Angeles to study acting. Her first professional acting job was a role on the television series "Chicago Sons" (1997).
Nickname
Allegra Coleman
Height
5' 8"
Allegra.... Cole
Doc
just woundering...
Casue
Woundering...
Readidng
I mean what on earth do they mean!
😛 LoL. My name is Allegra A. Cole. This is irritating me. Maybe they just got the idea to randomly name her Allegra Cole. (Like my mother did.)
Well actually that's not random, Allegra is an older name, and is in quite a few older poems. Relates to the word Allegro.
Allegra D, or whatever the stupid Drug is, should be paying me royalties. (I wish.)
I'm serious, it's on my drivers license and my birth certificate.
- Allegra Cole