By Isabella Schneider
My thoughts on Paris Hilton prior to watching the documentary weren’t good, but now I want to be her. My knowledge of Hilton was that she was a classic influencer, notorious for her phrase “That’s Hot.” I assumed she made her fame off of her family’s hotel lines and being a rich and iconic party animal. I also didn’t know she was still relevant.
My extent of knowledge of the documentary was from some YouTube advertisements I had seen and the casual mention of its existence by pop culture podcasters. However, I was extremely pleased with her documentary and ended up following her on Instagram, reposting her ads, and becoming a “Little Hilton.”
From the beginning, it is clear that she is incredibly self-aware of who she is, and the documentary does a great job of humanizing her.
Hilton understands she is her own brand, and it could have been easy for her to censor herself. Instead, what we get is a true, raw, unfiltered version of who she is underneath the blonde hair and neon pink outfits.
Part of Hilton’s understanding of her own brand was understanding the mistakes that came with being one of the OG influencers. A large part of the documentary focuses on her feeling at fault for the growth of social media into a toxic and comparative space.
Without spoiling too much, the documentary revealed dark things about Hilton and the trauma that she experienced as a child. It revealed trauma that I didn’t even know could exist and showed the internal battles she continues to face on a daily basis. Unlike some documentaries that merely serve to tell a story, this one aided Hilton in healing herself and served as support for her cause.
Additionally, the timeline of the documentary kept me engaged despite the documentary runtime at an hour and 50 minutes. I’m clearly not the only one who was thoroughly engaged as the documentary recently hit 11 million views. It starts off with Hilton confronting her trauma head-on, then backpedals throughout the moments that led up to the event that ultimately changed her psyche forever.
While we typically find ourselves to envy socialites, I found myself empathizing with Hilton and even pitying her.
We finally get to see the true Hilton, not the blonde airhead “character” she’s been playing for decades. I finally understood how much work goes into her career, and saw that she never takes a day off, and any vacation or trip is for the sole purpose of work.
Hilton stated that she won’t stop working until she’s a billionaire. In a review on IMDB, one viewer said this was surprising.
“All the average person needs to hear is a rich person talking about money *sarcasm*” user Gold_Nava17 wrote. “I understand she wants to get more credit than just be seen as riding off her parent’s money but she was born to wealthy parents and got a huge chip on her shoulder in life and that helped her tremendously.”
However, I disagree. I think that by seeing her work process and her healing journey, it’s clear that there’s a psychological component driving her to be unable to rest.
Additionally, haters could view her failures at relationships presented in the documentary as her fault. She said she doesn’t like being told what to do and puts security cameras in her house whenever she gets a new boyfriend because she’s unable to fully trust them.
Again, I disagree. It’s very clear that her history with past boyfriends, for example, the notorious leaked sex tape, drove her to have a lifelong distrust of men. She showcased her collection of laptops that have been broken by past lovers. The portrayal of her heartbreak showcased a seldom taught idea that just because somebody is beautiful, love may not come easily.
As previously stated, the documentary portrayed Hilton in a whole new light, and I think the name “This is Paris” was truly fitting. I think it brought on a whole new wave of fame for Hilton, as she is now an activist, and can be seen collaborating with new fame such as her closet tour TikTok live with JoJo Siwa.
I recommend investing time to watch this documentary. It is both hearts wrenching and uplifting. Every minute of it had me at the edge of my seat. I have a newfound appreciation and admiration for Hilton who is an icon that has pioneered a generation of fashion, socialites, and fame.
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