Gia Malinovitch has written quite a thought-provoking article in The Guardian today (28th August 2010) - the subject of said article is as per the title of this blog, with the added tagline "Invisible Wife Syndrome".

I thought it quite a thought-provoking and very well written piece - reflecting the the (bad) behaviour of today's media-connected public that have their fads and fashions together with their inherent rudeness.

Just for your information, Gia is American (born in Minnesota) and presented such shows as Channel 4's Demolition Day, Sky Sports, Nickleodeon and Radio 5 Live shows as well as providing the "geeky" IT support for the BBC Programme "Electric Dreams" in 2009. She's a photographer, mother and blogger, describing herself as "American ex-pat, a science groupie and professional dork." She produces websites and writes. So it isn't as if she's never done anything, eh?

In her article (at http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/28/invisible-wife-syndrome-celebrity-relationships?CMP=twt_iph) she describes her life living with her husband Professor Brian Cox (oh him, I hear you say!) and his fame since presenting his hit TV programme series "Wonders of the Universe", of which he is just about to commence filming the second series. She describes the prejudices [towards her] surrounding them both, as his fame "took hold" and she describes the sheer ignorance of people in general.

Again - just for your information - let me tell you this. I am not a Prof Cox follower. I don't follow him on Twitter and although I have watched "Wonders of the Universe" it wasn't really my cup of tea. That's not to say that I don't like him - he seems a really nice bloke - I'm just not interested in what he does for a living all that much. I think he does what he does very well indeed and is indeed very worthy of all the praise he gets - rightfully so - but still, not my cup of tea.

Gia, or rather what Gia is interested in, on the other hand, is. I follow Gia on Twitter, I read her blog, I look at her photos. No, I'm not stalking, it just so happens that I am fairly interested in what she blogs about, talks about and the kind of things she likes, in the same way that I like Stephen Moffat or Terry Pratchett. Point is though, I'll probably still be interested in 10,15 or even 20 years time - and - I would never be so ignorant as to be rude to her, or Prof Cox.

T'wasn't like it "in the old days" where if you were a film star or a TV star, that's the way you stayed until the day you died. Nowadays, you're a film or tv star or a celebrity for as long as people remember you for - which given that today's public have the memory retention of a goldfish - isn't very long. Even being a "Celebrity" can mean many different things today too.

With the advent of the Gods-Awful reality shows like the dire X Factor, the even direr Big Brother and the excrutiating Australian Princess, it goes to prove that any bugger can be a celebrity nowadays. Well, for five minutes, anyway. Show like "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here" don't help either, with B, C and D-lister "Celebs" trying to kickstart flagging "careers".

Such is today's fickle, fad-tastic and - let's face it - stupid public that you would think that Prof. Cox wasn't married at all! Gia's never even mentioned in articles and when she is, it's usually something put-downish and downright rude.

She describes an incident [in her Guardian piece] where she and Brian are meeting with a Producer. She makes a suggestion to said Producer, who basically blanks her until Prof Brian makes the same suggestion. Then the Producer listens and thinks it's a good idea etc etc.

I'm afraid if it were me that were in her shoes that day, said Producer would have had a kick in the bollocks and no mistake!

So there it is. We are all exposed to the banalities and the fad-ism of this modern life. Some a lot more so than others and I truly sympathise with those, like Gia, who have to be exposed on a daily basis to those bastards that are either stupid, fickle or just plain ignorant.

I for one would never ignore or be anything but polite to Gia - or Prof Cox, for that matter - should I ever be lucky enough to see them. And I would certainly turn a polite blind eye to the sanitary towels you're placing in your trolley.

Chin up and keep washing the pants - someone has to.