Celebrity
Just down the street from where I work there is a pub that is currently closed for the filming of Love Guru, starring Michael Myers, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Alba, and Ben Kingsley. Just ouside of the back door there were a few people lingering around looking for a glimpse at one of these big namers. Not that we don't see our fair share of celebrities in Toronto... there are lots of famous people around here. There are many movies that are supposed to take place in Chicago, Detroit, New York, LA, etc... that are filmed in Toronto.
Something occurred to me as I walked by, and it came to me in the form of a stand-up comic routine or Bill Maher monologue.
I have gotten to the point where I don't understand celebrity. I don't get it! I can't understand people crowding around extremely wealthy people they don't know to fawn over them. It's like running up to someone and saying "I love you because I've... seen you before!" "I want to see a bunch of pictures of you in magazines because... there are -so- many pictures of you in magazines!!"
Unless you admire someone for something specific they do, like a musician for their music, an actor for their acting, a writer for their writing, I don't get it. The fawning doesn't promote the exchange of useful ideas or anything. I could see myself getting excited about meeting someone like Naomi Klein because I'd love to learn more about her ideas directly from the source.
So, we have to do away with celebrity, or start treating everyone like that. Just walk into a retail store and start fawning over one of the employees! "I love your work!" "Can I get an autograph?" "Have you been working out?" You'd never get past anyone's defenses. In our ever-sarcastic society, everyone would be on guard, thinking they were being made fun of. It might work better if we did it to random strangers on the street, "Wow! I can't believe I'm meeting you!" "Why me?" "I don't know. Why don't we chat and find out?"
Something like that would certainly promote the exchange of ideas. We all isolate ourselves so much... imagine what would happen if everyone started breaking down their own walls.
Just some random musings...
Something occurred to me as I walked by, and it came to me in the form of a stand-up comic routine or Bill Maher monologue.
I have gotten to the point where I don't understand celebrity. I don't get it! I can't understand people crowding around extremely wealthy people they don't know to fawn over them. It's like running up to someone and saying "I love you because I've... seen you before!" "I want to see a bunch of pictures of you in magazines because... there are -so- many pictures of you in magazines!!"
Unless you admire someone for something specific they do, like a musician for their music, an actor for their acting, a writer for their writing, I don't get it. The fawning doesn't promote the exchange of useful ideas or anything. I could see myself getting excited about meeting someone like Naomi Klein because I'd love to learn more about her ideas directly from the source.
So, we have to do away with celebrity, or start treating everyone like that. Just walk into a retail store and start fawning over one of the employees! "I love your work!" "Can I get an autograph?" "Have you been working out?" You'd never get past anyone's defenses. In our ever-sarcastic society, everyone would be on guard, thinking they were being made fun of. It might work better if we did it to random strangers on the street, "Wow! I can't believe I'm meeting you!" "Why me?" "I don't know. Why don't we chat and find out?"
Something like that would certainly promote the exchange of ideas. We all isolate ourselves so much... imagine what would happen if everyone started breaking down their own walls.
Just some random musings...