Challenge Accepted! 253 steps to becoming an anti-It girl
Celeste Barber (HarperCollins, $35) Reviewed by Sarah Chandler
She’s an Instagram star with more than 5 million followers. But unlike most of those with a huge social media following, Celeste Barber isn’t a Hollywood celebrity or a super model. In fact, she’s quite the opposite. Under the #CelesteChallengeAccepted hashtag the 36-year-old Aussie actor and comedian has made a second career out of mocking our obsession with beauty and fashion by juxtaposing slick celebrity Insta images with her own unglamorous imitations of the same scenes.
Whether it be Kim Kardashian posing half naked on a pile of dirt (Kanye’s idea, apparently), a glamorous Beyonce cradling her newborn twins, Lady Gaga nailing a yoga pose on a paddleboard, or the Jenner sisters in various stages of undress, Barber is always keen to have a crack at parodying celeb shots, with invariably hilarious results. Her send-ups of the stars not only expose the absurdity of the unrealistic images we’re bombarded with every day, but also remind us that they only really have the power we are willing to give them.
Barber brings the same self-deprecating humour and down-to-earth persona behind the #CelesteChallengeAccepted photoshoots to her new memoir. Part comedic routine, part reflection, Challenge Accepted! 253 steps to becoming an anti-It girl details the people, events and food stuffs (she specifically credits Nutella) that have shaped her into the person she is today.
While almost everything is played for a laugh in the book, Barber’s life story sounds like it hasn’t been all beer and skittles. From growing up with an ADD diagnosis (‘‘or maybe it’s ADHD’’ she says, ‘‘I wasn’t paying attention’’), to being badly bullied at school, she seems to have learned to rely on wit and humour to get through tough times from a young age. She’s also had open heart surgery, lost close friends to suicide and illness, had some shitty #MeToo experiences, and raised four kids with her #HotHusband Api (they share two young sons, and she inherited two step daughters from his previous relationship).
Unexpectedly, she includes a couple of open letters in the memoir – one to the LGBTQI community apologising for homophobia in Australia, and the other, a love letter to wine. (If I had one criticism of the book it’s that I reckon this wine-mum schtick is wearing a bit thin and she could have given that a miss.) On balance however, Celeste Barber is warm, witty and makes sure funny always comes first, whatever the topic: ‘‘I have a real desire to make people laugh, no matter what the cost. I am seeing someone about it.’’ Recommended.