Academy History

Celebrity tattoos have been a frequent topic in mainstream pop culture and the media since the early 1990s. Actors, musicians and sports figures have gone under the needle, and their designs have inspired millions to do the same.

Oscar winning actor and budding humanitarian Angelina Jolie is also closely associated with her myriad of tattoos. Jolie is a dedicated tattoo enthusiast, collecting at least a dozen tattoos to symbolize various beliefs and life events. Jolie has made the dragon one of the most popular tattoos for women and sparked interest in traditional tattoo styles of Southeast Asia.

Rapper, Record Producer and actor 50 Cent is as noted for his body art as for his music. Fifty’s tattoos cover his back; the giant “Southside 50” rising from smoke and flames has become his signature. The back tattoo was designed by celebrity inkster Mr. Cartoon, who also designs Nike sneakers.

Eminem, another Mr. Cartoon client, has dog tags tattooed around his neck, a large mushroom on his left shoulder, his daughter’s name on his left wrist, “Slit Here” on his right wrist, a D on his right arm, the number 12 on his left arm, tattoos for Eminem and Slim Shady on his chest and several others.

The actor and reality television star Nicole Richie has at least nine tattoos, including wings on her back, a rosary around her ankle and a spider on her lower back. A pair of ballerina slippers commemorates both her childhood passion and her father Lionel Richie’s song “Ballerina Girl.”

Similarly, Britney Spears has several tattoos: a fairy on her lower back, a small daisy circling her second toe on right foot, a butterfly leaving a vine on left foot, a flower with Chinese symbol for mystery in middle on lower stomach, three Hebrew characters on back of her neck, and reportedly several others. Critics allege Britney’s rather varied assortment of body art is indicative of her impulsive vices, but others celebrate her love of tattooing.

Drew Barrymore has sported inked crosses and butterflies for more than a decade. Barrymore has posed for countless photographs displaying her tattoos, so she has perhaps the most extensively photographed body art of anyone in the public eye.

In abandoning her late 1990s teen pop image, Christina Aguilera adopted a variety of tattoos. She had the name of her controversial alter ego, Xtina, inked on her neck. She also obtained a flower on her wrist, a design on her forearm and reportedly several unseen designs. Later, she celebrated her marriage to record producer Jordan Bratman with the words “Te Amo Siempre” on her arm.

International sports star David Beckham is as famed for his jet-setting lifestyle, celebrity wife Victoria “Posh” Beckham, and famous friends as he is for his skills. Beckham has his sons’ names on his back, his wife’s name and his jersey number on his arm, and other tattoos. Beckham detailed his tattoos’ symbolic value in his autobiography, and his wife is also a body art fan.

Another celebrity couple who are tattoo fans are pop star Pink and her husband motocross racer Carey Hart. The singer’s tattoos may well number in the dozens. She has a shooting star and angel on her shoulder, “what goes around comes around” on her wrist, “tru luv” on her arm, “Mr. Pink” on her thigh, a cartoon cat on her stomach, the barcode from the album Missundaztood just below her hairline on back of her neck, and many more. Hart owns the Huntington-Hart Tattoo Shop in the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. The shop is featured in the reality television show “Inked.”

There’s no good reason for a typical non-actor professional woman like myself to be interested in the awards ceremonies for people that aren’t in my field. Still, like everyone else I seem to want to watch the folks that act in the movies I love so much to watch.

For me, movies are a distraction away from the world of computer programming. I develop web sites and write web software and desktop application software for a living. I have essentially nothing in common with celebrities other than the fact that we both walk upright, eat food, and breathe.

Still, I watch the award shows just to see how they’ll behave when they win the awards. I like all of the crowd shots that show where each individual is sitting. I even take note of who is sitting next to them, and whether they look like a real person instead of a plastic person. I like the images of the winners being surprised and happy, and the losers trying their best to convey genuine congratulatory feelings to the winners in their category.

Maybe it is just some kind of an odd voyeuristic enthusiasm that I just can’t help. Maybe it is because I love the movies, and love to see how the Academy chooses to honor them first with a nomination and then with a winner. I’ve seen the drama so many times you’d think I’d be worn out on it all by now. Still I watch, year after year.

Am I just a bone-headed watcher? I don’t know. I may never know.