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Gia
Carangi (1960 - 1986)
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 Thing
of Beauty : The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia by Stephen
M. Fried
Trashy celebrity bios are usually diminished by
the fact that we've already heard the stories about Lonnie and
Burt, or Madonna and Sean, or whoever the current target is.
Author Stephen Fried manages to get all the sleaze value plus a
lot of surprises by choosing supermodel Gia Carangi as his topic.
Although her face is widely recognized, Gia finished her modeling
career in a blaze of heroin and disease just before the time when
models became celebrities with name recognition. Her life is the
perfect fodder for the exploitation market, but Fried goes beyond
that with fluid prose and a reporter's nose for tracking down
sources. His stories about her teenage years, with their mix of
late nights in Philadelphia's gay clubs, manic worship, and
glam-style imitation of David Bowie, as well as tales of Gia's
ability to seduce her friends, male and female, are the product of
a lot of work and make for very interesting reading. Gia's
unabashed homosexuality and early death from AIDS make her story a
palimpsest of life on the edge in the America of the 1980s.
 Gia
(1998)
There's a reason why Cindy Crawford was dubbed
"Baby Gia" when she first hit the modeling scene.
Indeed, Crawford, now the world's best-known supermodel, greatly
resembled model Gia Carangi, who went from high school to the
cover of British Vogue in less than two years. Carangi
appeared on many more covers of Vogue (French, British,
Italian, and American) and Cosmopolitan before dying of
complications from AIDs (she was an IV heroin user) in 1986. Now
most people recognize Carangi's name from this powerful HBO film
that stars Golden Globe-winner Angelina Jolie, who comes by her
talent honestly. Jolie is the daughter of veteran actor Jon Voight,
and her own training as a model serves her well--she has the
moves. Throughout, she's heartbreaking--as no doubt the real
Carangi was--effective, and stunning.
With good source material (Stephen Fried's A
Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia), Jolie's
stunning performance, and strong directing by Michael Cristofer,
the movie goes beyond the merely sensational. The script was
cowritten by Cristofer and novelist Jay McInerney, whose Bright
Lights, Big City covers similar territory. As a cautionary
tale, Gia works. But to watch Jolie in her character's
tragic self-destruction is utterly compelling. --N.F. Mendoza
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Excerpt:
Gia was born January 29th 1960. She died of aids
November 18th 1986. Gia was the first of the Super Models born
from the decadent disco era of the late 70's , early 80's. Gia was
a heroin addicted lesbian and the most magnetic, super-charged
beauty of her day! She had it all: fame, money, adoration and a
body to die for! She also had unresolved problems and personal
demons which she tried to suppress through drug use. This led to
her untimely demise from aids...
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Author of the Gia Carangi biography "Thing
of Beauty" answers some common questions and provides photos
and links to related Gia resources.
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This site has photos, links to other websites, and information
about the Gia Carangi webring.
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This site is dedicated to helping the Gia's who
are alive in this world today. This site is not a Gia fan site, as
I am not a Gia fan. Enjoy the pictures and whatever else may be
shared, but please keep in mind this is a site with a purpose, and
that purpose is not to idolize Gia...
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Names Index:
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M N
O P
Q R
S T
U V
W X
Y Z
| Authors
Index | Scholars
Index |
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