Questioning Celebrity
The thing about celebrities is that I know they are no good. Most celebrities are famous for no reason other than they look good. Those of us who spent some time in a place called High School know that the good looking kids aren’t really useful for anything, other than being the prom queen. The thing about this country is that we idolize celebrities. Photographers hound them and we buy the magazines full of their pictures. We read about their lives and how they drop their baby weight in a week, we want to know who they are wearing, which other good-looking celebrity they are dating. And our celebrities become more and more vacuous with each passing day (I saw Paris Hilton’s Funny or Die ad the other day and almost puked on myself). We are a tabloid culture, a looks-ocracy.
I’m OK with this, only because I don’t know how to change it. I can tell myself its meaningless and move on to judge the next person. But I guess most of America doesn’t think like that. Certainly the celebrities don’t think like that. I read about Ben Affleck and Matt Damon going to some Obama fundraiser and speaking about how its time for change. And again, I almost puked on myself. Seriously? Fucking Ben Affleck, telling America want it needs? Did this man go to college? Is this man even good at his acting job? Can he read? What has he done besides play a blind super hero? What are his qualifications for telling me what my country needs other than a (fictitious) heightened sense of smell? Matt Damon at least makes good movies. But all the same, he can keep on making movies, maybe teach his buddy Ben a thing or two about it, and let me (or lesser, weaker, celebrity-loving Americans) make up their own minds.
Who gives a shit what Angelina Jolie thinks about politics? What does it matter who Gwenyth Paltrow will vote for? Angelina is effectively a billionaire hobo who doesn’t live in America that I can tell and Mrs. Chris Martin has dual citizenship in England (BITCH!), so if she had half a brain she’d just stay in England and shut her privileged yap. Angelina, Gwenyth, Ben, Matt, the whole lot of them, have no grasp with the reality of most American’s lives. So why do we get to hear what they think all the time?
I suppose when we care about every other detail of their lives—how they work out, where they live, who they date, the names they give their offspring that are too ludicrous even for a non-famous person’s dog—then its just a matter of time before we start caring about how they vote. It is, effectively, “I’m rich and famous and therefore my opinion is more worth the hearing.” As an elitist who hates most people, I’m all for weeding out certain people’s opinions, or allowing that some are more worth hearing. But, Jesus God, Ben Affleck?
I think I just might puke again.
I’m OK with this, only because I don’t know how to change it. I can tell myself its meaningless and move on to judge the next person. But I guess most of America doesn’t think like that. Certainly the celebrities don’t think like that. I read about Ben Affleck and Matt Damon going to some Obama fundraiser and speaking about how its time for change. And again, I almost puked on myself. Seriously? Fucking Ben Affleck, telling America want it needs? Did this man go to college? Is this man even good at his acting job? Can he read? What has he done besides play a blind super hero? What are his qualifications for telling me what my country needs other than a (fictitious) heightened sense of smell? Matt Damon at least makes good movies. But all the same, he can keep on making movies, maybe teach his buddy Ben a thing or two about it, and let me (or lesser, weaker, celebrity-loving Americans) make up their own minds.
Who gives a shit what Angelina Jolie thinks about politics? What does it matter who Gwenyth Paltrow will vote for? Angelina is effectively a billionaire hobo who doesn’t live in America that I can tell and Mrs. Chris Martin has dual citizenship in England (BITCH!), so if she had half a brain she’d just stay in England and shut her privileged yap. Angelina, Gwenyth, Ben, Matt, the whole lot of them, have no grasp with the reality of most American’s lives. So why do we get to hear what they think all the time?
I suppose when we care about every other detail of their lives—how they work out, where they live, who they date, the names they give their offspring that are too ludicrous even for a non-famous person’s dog—then its just a matter of time before we start caring about how they vote. It is, effectively, “I’m rich and famous and therefore my opinion is more worth the hearing.” As an elitist who hates most people, I’m all for weeding out certain people’s opinions, or allowing that some are more worth hearing. But, Jesus God, Ben Affleck?
I think I just might puke again.
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