The carpet is as much a conceptual as a physical space, a thin ribbon separating those who have fame and the masses who bestow it. The “reporters” on the margins of this zone are not really reporting in any conventional sense of the word. They don’t investigate, explain or even filter very much, which is part of why the movie stars are willing to play ball. Instead they inspect frocks, repeat sound bites and shout into the cameras about what the stars are “really like.” In truth carpet reporters like me serve as grubby floor traders whose cumulative hunger (or lack thereof — few sights are more pathetic than B-listers biding time alone) determines the market value of the glittering commodities on display.