The Meaning of Headlines: 'hot mess'

The Meaning of Headlines: 'hot mess' - entertainment

The USA Today published a video on January 10, 2016, in its ‘Our Picks’ section, with the headline: ‘The Golden Globes will be a hot mess, and that’s why we love them.’ What does ‘hot mess’ mean? And if it’s a mess, why are we going to love them?

The Urban Dictionary defines ‘hot mess’ as: ‘when ones thoughts or appearance are in a state of disarray but they maintain an undeniable attractiveness or beauty.’ The Oxford Dictionary defines it as an informal American term meaning ‘a person or thing that is spectacularly unsuccessful or disordered, especially one that is a source of peculiar fascination.’

Time magazine wrote an entire article on the term, with the headline ‘How the Meaning of ‘Hot Mess’ Has Changed Through History’ (April 2, 2014). Time said the phrase came to prominence as the slogan for Amy Schumer’s new Comedy Central show, but that it has been used since the 1800s when it meant ‘food for soldiers’ (hot food, but not very delicious or attractive). By the early 1900s Americans used ‘hot mess’ to mean a ‘confusing or unpleasant situation.’ The article states that ‘hot’ can be used to describe something ‘daring, flamboyant, uninhibited, wild, intense, lustful, sexy, or drunk.’ The article also states that ‘mess’ can describe an eccentric person, or a large quantity, or something that is both praiseworthy yet also confusing.

The USA Today video, uploaded before the 73^rd Golden Globes award night, has the sentence, below the headline, ‘The 2016 Golden Globes are sure to be full of jokes, duplicate dresses and drunken moments.’ The Golden Globe Award, referred to as Golden Globes, is an annual American award night bestowed by members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign. It is hosted in January, before the Academy Awards, known as the Oscars, which are usually held in March (this year they will be held on February 28). Therefore the Golden Globes is an award presentation night with many film and television celebrities, lots of celebratory drinking, jokes, songs, dances, suits and evening dresses – as well as, of course, guessing which films and stars will win a coveted award.

The presenters of the short video were expecting ‘partying and heavy drinking’ with ‘jokes at the expense of celebrities.’ They were hoping that Amy Schumer and Jennifer Lawrence would wear the same dress, and they were looking forward to the potential for ‘a few drunk moments.’ It all sounds glamorous, and yet at every show there are unglamorous funny moments.

Scorecard for the USA Today headline is 100%. The video described moments of disarray amid undeniable attractiveness or beauty – which is why viewers watch the award presentation, why viewers are fascinated by the nominees, and why ‘we love them.’

http://www.usatoday.com

MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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