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A review by knod78
No Filter by Paulina Porizkova
3.0
Definitely 2.5 stars for me.
I had some time to process this book. I did enjoy reading her story and she writes well. The book is easy to read with a flowy essay format. Her story was so interesting from refugee status, model at a very young age, the sexual harassment, meeting Rick Ocasek (whom I love), their marriage, their divorce/separation, his death. I loved her insights.
However, this was another memoir that needed a good editor. She often repeated herself. Every chapter was filled with the same information about his abandonment, the will, standing in the kitchen, the bullying, etc. There didn't seem to be a great organization of the essays with timeline or themes.
And also, my complaint about the book stems from one chapter where she addresses the criticism. I liked that she did it, but she missed the point. Yes, people on the internet are cruel and horrible, but they weren't wrong. Paulina didn't get the fact that you can't compare athletes to models when models were a part of an industry that actively made girls (especially in the 80s/90s) feel like shit about their bodies. They had no confidence, because they weren't as perfect and as skinny as the models. I was skinny, but I didn't have the face. We were often compared to models. Women didn't get jobs, because their were deemed too fat. Women lost husbands to other women who looked more like a model (looking at you Tom Brady) or didn't get a date, because they didn't live up to the model type. There was even a stupid movie with Jack Black who only wanted to date models even though he was not a good looking man himself. It was the stereotypes that reverberated throughout our world making it difficult to be a young women in it. I'm not saying it's her fault at all; I'm just saying she was part of a system and she should own that. She also admits she was arrogant and could be mean sometimes.
So, it's up to you if you want to read it. I follow her on Instagram and I do like the positive stuff she's putting out there for older women. It's just this book wasn't the best book I've read.
I had some time to process this book. I did enjoy reading her story and she writes well. The book is easy to read with a flowy essay format. Her story was so interesting from refugee status, model at a very young age, the sexual harassment, meeting Rick Ocasek (whom I love), their marriage, their divorce/separation, his death. I loved her insights.
However, this was another memoir that needed a good editor. She often repeated herself. Every chapter was filled with the same information about his abandonment, the will, standing in the kitchen, the bullying, etc. There didn't seem to be a great organization of the essays with timeline or themes.
And also, my complaint about the book stems from one chapter where she addresses the criticism. I liked that she did it, but she missed the point. Yes, people on the internet are cruel and horrible, but they weren't wrong. Paulina didn't get the fact that you can't compare athletes to models when models were a part of an industry that actively made girls (especially in the 80s/90s) feel like shit about their bodies. They had no confidence, because they weren't as perfect and as skinny as the models. I was skinny, but I didn't have the face. We were often compared to models. Women didn't get jobs, because their were deemed too fat. Women lost husbands to other women who looked more like a model (looking at you Tom Brady) or didn't get a date, because they didn't live up to the model type. There was even a stupid movie with Jack Black who only wanted to date models even though he was not a good looking man himself. It was the stereotypes that reverberated throughout our world making it difficult to be a young women in it. I'm not saying it's her fault at all; I'm just saying she was part of a system and she should own that. She also admits she was arrogant and could be mean sometimes.
So, it's up to you if you want to read it. I follow her on Instagram and I do like the positive stuff she's putting out there for older women. It's just this book wasn't the best book I've read.