Being Asian-American, I’m super-sensitive to news about other Asian-Americans, whether it be about creaky old Senator Dan Inouye of Hawaii, Woody Allen’s daughter-turned-wife Soon Yi, Star Trekker-turned-gay activist George Takei, new GLEE heart-throb Darren Criss, Matrix superstar Keanu Reeves, pot-smoking Harold masquerading as John Cho, potty-mouth comedienne Margaret Cho, or long-suffering keeper-of-the-flame Yoko Ono.
And now we have….WENDI DENG MURDOCH!
I was skeptical when I first read about Wendi Deng. According to The Telegraph, she was born in the eastern Chinese city of Xuzhou, the daughter of an engineer. She came to the United States in the late 1980s to work and study through a visa sponsored by an American couple from Los Angeles, Jake and Joyce Cherry. When the Cherry’s marriage ended (Surprise, Surprise!) Wendi and Jake married, but (Surprise, Surprise!) divorced in less than three years.
Shortly after that, in June 1999, being footloose and Cherry-free, Wendi met media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and (Surprise, Surprise!) married him just 17 days after his divorce from his second wife of 31 years had been finalized. Wendi was 30 at the time, and Rupert 68. No fool like an old fool. Look what happened to Anna Nicole Smith and J. Howard Marshall. I envisioned a remake of Hitchcock’s DIAL M FOR MURDOCH.
Twelve years and two daughters later, they’re back in the news. Wendi is now 42, and Rupert 80. They’re still married to each other, and (Surprise, Surprise!) it’s beginning to look like true love. The proof is in the pudding, or at least in the shaving cream pie.
When comedian/activist Jonnie Marbles attempted to throw a shaving cream pie at old Rupert during the select committee hearing last week about the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal, millions of people saw on television how a sprightly Wendi leapt to her feet, smacked Marbles in the head, and tried to push the pie back in his face, proving to the world that Rupert’s Wendi is no shrinking violet, no Madame Butterfly. I wonder what’ll happen when the Dragon Lady finally discovers that the prince she married is really a toad.
Maybe we’ll still get the remake of that Hitchcock movie.