It's a week later and people are still buzzing about the Tony Awards.
Not Hamilton's history-making 16 nominations and incredible 11 wins.
Not host James Corden's fanboy cuteness.
Not Lin-Manuel Miranda's rapid-fire acceptance speech/love letter to his wife.
Social media is still slamming a celebrity's looks. This time it's Meg Ryan.
It's been a while since we've seen America's Sweetheart, the now 54-year-old star of romantic classics such as When Harry Met Sally ... and Sleepless in Seattle. In fact, I'm not sure I've seen any of her projects since the 2004 boxing movie Against the Ropes (speaking of, have I seen her co-star Omar Epps since then? Have both careers since suffered a knockout?).
And so it was a surprise last Sunday to see Ryan, star of the 1998 film You've Got Mail (set back in kinder internet days before social media and swiping left) introducing a medley revival of the musical She Loves Me, on which it was based.
No one on social media seemed to notice the performance.
They just noticed Ryan's face looking much different, seemingly more pulled, plumped and pillowy. And they were vocal about it. (Not to mention visual, posting her photo next to that of Jack Nicholson's Joker.)
"Just stop Meg, walk away from the plastic surgeon, you didn't need it," tweeted one.
Another quipped, "I'm old enough to remember when Meg Ryan looked like Meg Ryan. #TonyAwards"
Tweeted another: "When Harry Met Sally, SALLY'S FACE WASN'T SO PLASTIC."
Others came to her defense.
"So Meg Ryan got old. It happens to us all. Some of us show our age sooner than others. Give the poor lady a break," tweeted a woman.
A man tweeted: "Turns out Meg Ryan ages. It's as if she's a human being."
All this transpired as other users reminded the Twittersphere there were perhaps bigger issues of more importance that very day.
"Top trend on FB isn't #Orlando but #MegRyan. Ppl are being slaughtered but let's not forget to shame a woman's looks," lamented one.
But they can talk all they want. Ryan doesn't care. She stayed collected and classy while addressing plastic surgery rumors in a Porter interview last year: "There's a lot of hatred in the world today; it's so easy to judge. Imagine being a hater, how stupid!"
There's another celebrity out there who could take a lesson on keeping one's head up as others are critiquing its flaws. And it's a guy.
Rocker Axl Rose recently requested that Blogspot and GoogleUserContent remove photos taken at a 2010 concert because of copyright infringement. But the real reason is ego infringement; they're highly unflattering, and, well, inflating. The puffy-faced photos have been morphed into meanie memes that mock the singer's looks with changed song lyrics, for example, "Paradise City": "Take me down to the Bakery City, where the pies have cream and the cakes are tasty." And then there's the parody of "Welcome to the Jungle: "Welcome to the buffet. It's got pork and cheese. It's got everything you want, from Italian to Chinese. At the buffet, welcome to the buffet, can no longer see my nana-nana-nana-nana- knees! Knees! I want some seconds, please!"
But, hey, it's not all bad! It has been about 30 years since Top Gun and Appetite for Destruction, and Ryan and Rose are still being talked about.
Meg, to borrow one of your movie titles, keep your Courage Under Fire. And Axl, to borrow one of your song titles, "Don't Cry."
Pretty is as pretty email:
jchristman@arkansasonline.com
Spin Cycle is a smirk at pop culture. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (B98.com), from 5:30-9 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Style on 06/19/2016