Prestige TV Killed the Starlet, by Laura Andrea

Poetry, chapbook, 20 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

A book about beautiful women and how we consume them. Inspired by starlets of then, later, and now, these poems reflect back at us how we have failed women who wanted love and art, only to get cranked out the other side as product. Fueled by the haunting reality that Monroe is ogled even in death and the rehashing of Anderson’s deepest invasion of privacy these poems highlight the fragmentation that necessitates the survival of femme fatales and other such types.

In the golden age of television and Sunday night prestige the starlets have not gone missing but are transforming. As our access to stars increases, who gets to exist plainly in the world is reduced. The metamorphosis from girl to starlet to woman to body parts is ever cycling and alluring. In the words of Norma Jean herself: “Do you want to watch me become her?”. These poems are an apology for and a reflection of our complicity in the carnage. Prestige TV Killed the Starlet asks where does your prestige lie and who pays the price for it.

Laura Andrea is a writer from Carolina, Puerto Rico. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and is a 2023 Periplus Fellow. Her work can be found in Luna Luna Magazine, Acentos Review, and Rio Grande Review, among others. They’re the author of genderbi (Ghost City Press, 2022) and writes the column "Monsterfucker" for Final Girl Bulletin Board. You can follow her day to day @lauranlora