Montclair and Glen Ridge have their share of minor and major celebrities. But those aren't the people who grab Francesco Paladino's attention. The host and producer of the new online video series "The F Word" is more interested in the star-watchers -- those neighbors of yours, the ones who linger on streetcorners and crane their necks to see who's shooting the latest commercial or TV episode here. Or who hungrily scan the covers of "Star" and "Us Weekly" while waiting in line at the A&P.
Paladino, who lives in Montclair, is fascinated by America's obsession with celebrities and how it cuts across cultural and socioeconomic lines. At every party, no matter who is there, he says, "it’s always the conversation. You could be talking about something as ordinary as what you're eating, and someone says, 'Yeah, it was in Martha Stewart's magazine, Jennifer Garner was making this for her baby shower...' Suddenly, now, we're not in reality anymore. We're talking about people we don't know, as though we know them."
In the first installment of "The F Word"...
...Paladino and his Jersey-based crew venture into Manhattan to talk with fans camped out in the hope of glimpsing Madonna in the flesh. He doesn't praise or judge them, which is what makes the show compelling. He just documents their devotion and tries to understand it.
There are more episodes to come, and some are likely to feature local faces and places.
All this exploration of the subject of celebrity may come in handy -- Paladino is an actor himself and he's got an appealing on-screen presence. If his videos happen to get major viral exposure, he may end up experiencing celebrity rather than chronicling it.
(photo credit: Laura DeSantis-Olsson)
talk about not having a life...he's documenting the people who don't have a life who vicariously live through people magazine...he's stalking the stalkers...yikes.