I was sitting on my boyfriends’ couch when he showed me an article out of Entertainment Weekly on Heath Ledger. The sub-headline read, “A year after his death, his closest friends finally open up about his fear of fame, life as a father, and brilliant career.” The article goes on to mention the start of Heath’s career at age 18 in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, moves on to mention the rest of the films he’s starred in over a lifetime, and ends with his half-finished role in Parnassus and his untimely death.
The article also mentions Heath’s disdain for parties in Hollywood and his lack of interest in interviews to the point where he would sometimes partake in “playing soldiers with [Pecoroni’s son] for hours just to get away from [the Hollywood lifestyle].”
If you’re wondering where I’m going with this blog, it is simply this; we as Americans partake in idolizing celebrities and often know more about them then we do about our founding fathers, prior presidents, or even about the people who have helped cure diseases that once plagued our society. This troubles me greatly.
It’s tragic to me that if you question someone with who played the lead roles on Titanic, they’ll probably say, “Jack was played by Lianardo DiCaprio, and Rose by Kate Winslet.” If you ask them who the Father of Science of Microbiology was, the same man that contributed to solving cases of “rabies, anthrax, chicken cholera, and silkworm diseases, and contributed to the development of the first vaccines” they’ll stare at you like you’re insane.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching a good movie or two and maybe even referencing actors to prior roles they have performed in, but I don’t go so overboard as to revolve my life around them. For example, Jim Carrey definitely did a great job in movies like Ace Ventura: Pet Dective, Me, Myself, and Irene, and even in Liar Liar but, when he tried his hand at a more serious role in the movie entitled The Number 23, almost every person I questioned about his performance stated that he should just stick to comedy roles. No one I questioned about his performance went more into depth about his lifestyle, which I was thankful for. We should be able to reference actors or celebrities and not idolize them or make a big scene, like people have done with Britney Spears or Vanessa Hudgens.
Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame and fortune, if only for a brief moment in life. I feel that the best way to get there is to be unique and original by creating your own style, idea, or invention that helps the masses or renders them into a mind state of salivation. I just feel that we shouldn’t idolize people to the point that we know more about them then we do our own selves and I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to sit back and be the 40 year old man behind the popcorn counter asking, “Would you like to upgrade that to a larger size,” simply because I wasted my life indulging in the lives of the rich and the famous instead of creating my own fame and fortune.
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i really enjoyed this post, and it makes a lot of sense. As for the whole idolizing thing, i think you have to sit back and realize that this is america, and that is what everyone wants. Everyone wants to know everything about everyone, especially stars and celebrities. But i must say idolizing a star or celebrity isn't always bad if some little kid looks up to an actor or actress for their work not just what they do offscreen. They can study that persons acting and use it to their ability if they wanted to become an actor or something.
ReplyDeleteWow when I first saw this I was like, "geesh this is long," but once it got to the end I wanted more!! I think your right about that, I am not a big celebrity fan so when people ask me about them and I don't know, They tell me I am crazy.
ReplyDeleteSome even go as far to say I was deprived of my childhood when in my eyes I never really cared. They have fortune and fame but that has nothing to do with me. One day people will realize they are no different from the rest of us.
I agree, the public worry too much about the gossip going around in the "celebrity world" to notice anything important in the real world. People can comment that actors work hard to entertain us. But can they make the opposite assumption about government officials, doctors, or pilots? They all work hard to keep us going. No one gives thanks to the people who work hard to provide them with things for their lives such as freedom.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. I believe the reason we are so fascinated with celebrities is that we want to live other people's lives. That is why MMORPG gaming, like Second Life, is so popular. People do not like their own lives so they try to immerse themselves with celebrity lives.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading you blog and I totally agree. It's sad to think Americans get obsessed with celebrity life, when they are actually are humans just like us. But the public will always want to gossip about the celebrity life. I don’t think that will ever change and it’s pretty sad to admit it. Americans will do anything to get those 15 minutes of fame and even wanting to feel like a celebrity
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