Here’s Diablo Cody.  Her real name is Brook Busey and she just won an Academy Award for writing the movie Juno.  She doesn’t fit the description of a traditional Hollywood scribe because she dabbled as an amateur stripper before hitting it big.

Since her win at the Oscars, no one can mention her name without also mentioning that she used to be involved in the skin trade.  The words “former stripper” precede her name like it’s illegal to omit the information.  I know that her exploits helped launch her career, but everything we do in our lives somehow contributes to where we’re going.

When I was in school, I worked as a bartender and waiter in a busy Chinese food restaurant in downtown Toronto.  I took the job because I had friends working there and they earned $250 a night in tips— about as much as they’d make working three or four days in a your typical office job for students.  The gig was awful but the choice was easy.  It helped me survive in an expensive city and still have a life on the outside. 

When I came to London to start this radio job, they didn’t include, “former Chinese food waiter Gord Vickman” in my bio.  I guess it doesn’t have the same appeal since I hadn’t taken off my clothes for cash.  What’s Cody’s problem?  I suspect that the snob set of writers and journalists can’t digest the fact that a “former stripper” just did something they only dream of.