Rex Reed and the Death of Expert Opinion We Thought We Didn’t Need
A personal remembrance of the legendary film critic, who died Tuesday at 87—and what the world lost when it decided it didn't need gatekeepers anymore.
When I saw Joan Collins move through the crowd toward Rex Reed, and by default, me, I got that special sickening feeling you get when you’re friends with a famous critic who’s known for blending unfiltered opinion with unbridled literary flair that—like nuclear fusion—creates a lot of unpredictable energy.
Joan approached— coiffed, bejeweled, with a blinding smile and raising one manicured finger toward Rex.
“Hi Joan,” he Louisiana-drawled.
She wagged her finger and smiled even wider.
(Was she mad?)
“Rex, you naughty, naughty boy,” she cooed in British, patting his cheek.
(Yep.)
“I should be very, very angry with you.”
“Oh, Joan,” he laughed.
Then she kissed him while relaying unhappiness at his review of her recent one-person evening.
He didn’t think he’d said anything bad.
(Though there was that line, “You can accuse her of hanging on beyond her prime, but if you meet her in a dark alley, bring Mace.”)
Then they embraced. They’d been friends since the 1960s.
It was like being trapped in an episode of Dynasty.
Rex Reed, who died on Tuesday at 87, was the last of the great 20th-century American culture writers, as famous in his own right as the celebrities he often profiled. He came up in a class of energetic literary cultural observers that included Tom Wolfe, Nora Ephron and Patricia Bosworth. In publications like the New York Times, Esquire, GQ, Vogue, and later, for Reed, a decades-long run in the New York Observer, they held a mirror to the zeitgeist of the second part of the American Century.
Reed’s profiles of mostly movie stars from Warren Beatty to Marlene Dietrich had a literary heft and alchemy that produced eye-watering tell-alls at once astute, snarky, and culturally insightful: middle-of-the-night pastrami and star temperament filming Barbra Streisand’s first TV special at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (she’d never speak to him again); Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton on the Rome set of the doomed blockbuster Cleopatra; and the clinically devastating portrait of segregationist Georgia Governor Lester Maddox, describing the baseball bats supplied to the young workers in his fried chicken joints, to keep out black customers. (Maddox swore never again to talk to a reporter, to Reed’s pride.) His first book of collected writings, Do You Sleep in the Nude? was a bestseller, as were subsequent books.
Movie-star handsome, he appeared in the notorious 1970 cult-flop version of Gore Vidal’s Myra Breckinridge, playing the male counterpart to the transgender Raquel Welch. Jet-setting with Melina Mercouri, Studio 54-hopping with Liza Minnelli, he maintained homey lifelong friendships with Golden Age Hollywood stars like June Allyson, Jean Simmons, Polly Bergen, Angela Lansbury and Ali McGraw
His writing could be caustic. Opinionated. Sometimes mean. He was completely unrepentant. His pact was with his readers, to enlighten and entertain, tell it as he saw it, backed up by expertise and taste. Allegiance was not to the people or the hundred-million-dollar movie productions he was writing about. He passionately believed that’s what critics are for: to curate for the public.
Not long ago, the critics of legacy media held huge sway. We, on the receiving end, used to fantasize: “Why do we need critics?” Why can’t everything just be like Yelp, where audiences just rate what they like?
Spoiler alert. The world Rex leaves is one engulfed by everybody speaking their own opinions and truth directly to everybody else. Influencers whose credentials are the number of people they convince to follow them. Critics are no longer the gatekeepers to box office or sales. Expertise is out. Treating your own medical condition is in. Be careful what you wish for.
Deborah Grace Winer is a culture writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Town and Country and numerous other publications. The Wall Street Journal named her book on the lyricist Dorothy Fields one of the five best books about American Songwriters. She knew Rex Reed for over three decades.
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D
· 9h 53m ago
Bryson is an irrelevance to the real golfing world.
He has a nice little niche audience on YouTube and that’s it, he’s one of the most disliked golfers in history.
The media (including the Athletic) are so pathetically desperate to build him up to be some sort of superstar when he doesn’t actually move the needle at a real golf event.
I had a look at the LIV Mexico viewing figures:
R3 on FS1: 54,000
R4 after Bryson pulled out on FS1: 49,000
He’s a complete non-event and if he retired from professional tournament golf tomorrow no one who watches golf tournaments on TV would care.
A
· 16h 11m ago
He can't focus without his personal camera crew.
B
· 14h 15m ago
Most annoying golfer on planet Earth. His fake dude bro schtick only appeals to preteen boys and unemployed incels.
M
· 14h 26m ago
Look, I’m not necessarily proud of this, but I get all schadenfreude-y when this phony, shallow ball of greed blows up.
E
· 16h 28m ago
That’s more Karma for taking the PIF money. He’d take money from the Taliban or Nazis.
S
· 14h 51m ago
Watching on the weekend will be much more enjoyable without DeChambles. Wonder who/what he will blame, because it’s never been his responsibility.
E
· 7h 10m ago
@Sharon S. I wonder where that comes from….
P
· 12h 9m ago
Big personality?? Guy has zero personality - just a fake persona he plays at for the cameras.
More importantly he’s lacking distance control with his irons and has zero touch around and on the greens. Not a good combo.
F
· 12h 3m ago
Too much noise in his head nowadays to play good golf. LIV stars compete in various parallel competitions: the PGA champ itself; the It Was Not a Wrong Decision championship; the We are as Good as Scotty or Rory championship; the Everything is Ok with LIV championship; the PGA should bring Me Back championship; … too many competitions at a time. Difficult to perform
· 14h 39m ago
Lurch has always been a train wreck waiting to happen. Guy acts like he invented golf. For a guy that has won exactly two majors, he gets far more publicity than he deserves.
K
· 14h 31m ago
No problem, Bryson can fly home and print out a better score card.
A
· 13h 0m ago
There are a lot of bots out there right now confused and bewildered, waiting for their next infusion of bro-ness. What will the bots do?
A
· 7h 30m ago
I hope the writers read this comment. Nice work in preparing and writing this piece. It is fair-balanced and notes the success of up and coming players. The game could use more younger guys....
B
· 6h 22m ago
I’ve never noticed much self-awareness from DeChambeau but fair play to him for recognizing that tournament golf may not be for him and he’d be happier with a career in video production.