Molly McPherson examines a Brad Pitt magazine profile drowning in surface details: his dogs Sunday and Vandy, an egg-yolk-colored t-shirt, a glass entryway. She argues these visual symbols obscure rather than reveal, mirroring how the public briefly engages with celebrities before moving on.
I want to get into the why behind what we see in this profile. But the first line, the dogs are trying to escape, shoving their noses through his knees and climbing all over each, each other, attempting to paw their way out of the glass door. So we learned that Brad Pitt lives— in the article, we know for not very long— in a new house. The whole entryway is solid glass. So that is Added into the story as a choice. So we are seeing into the world of Brad Pitt, literally and figuratively. So then he talks more about the dogs, uh, and Brad Pitt comes to the door wearing a t-shirt the color of egg yolk. Now I'm going to pause here for a moment. So much of this profile has details, surgical-like precision in detailing things about Brad Pitt and his life, his home, and his dogs. It's the detail that I pay attention to because there's an abundance of it, then there's a lack of it. So moving on with the article, then D'Agostino quotes Brad here, quote, you'll get mildly molested for a couple minutes, then they'll leave you alone. That's about the dogs, but it also Highlights or telegraphs what Brad Pitt might think about the critics as well. And that's why I think this profile exists. It's there to lay everything bare, you think. Not really. So you learn a lot about Brad Pitt, but you learn about the things that don't really matter. But there's so many details that you think you're getting a lot of information about Brad Pitt. So we know that the 2 doodles, and of course Brad Pitt has doodles, they're not pit bulls. They're not German Shepherds. They're doodles named Sunday, as in hot fudge, and Vandy. And he says they came with the name. So now the dogs are satisfied and they're no longer interested. So that's also supposed to be to you, to the critics out there, to the public. You may be interested for a moment and you may want to molest the name of Brad Pitt, but your job is to go away. Once this information is fed to you?
