Every year since it started in 2005, I’ve made it to at least one film at the Traverse City Film Festival. Pretty cool, huh? And for the past few years I’ve come away with a prevailing idea to ruminate on and possibly do something about. Perhaps these will turn into stories or books someday, perhaps activist movements or social media campaigns, who knows.
This year I was thinking about celebrity. I saw the Amy Winehouse documentary “Amy.” It perfectly exemplifies the destructive power of celebrity. I felt sad, not only about the tragedy of her life and death, but about the way she was hounded, slandered, and spewed across every single media venue there is. We are brutal to our celebrities, augmenting their every mistake, chastising their every misstep. Is it that we want to bring them down to our level? Do we find some sick fascination in reading about their downward spirals? Personally I think it’s nothing short of tragic that every child star ends up rehab and that their struggle with addiction is plastered across the tabloids at the grocery store check out.
I saw a headline the other day that speculated whether Jennifer Aniston was pregnant or whether she’d made a bad wardrobe choice.
Ouch.
I don’t know what to do with this yet. But I want to open the conversation.
Celia I think about this often. I think people should find things to do, like a hobby or go volunteer, rather than be so involved in celebrities’ lives.
I think it might be sick human nature. People get pumped up by seeing others fail and knowing that it’s not them. Or they thrive on the drama since their own lives are at a more even keel. I also think that many people don’t disassociate these people with characters on tv or in movies. They aren’t “real” people. Their entire lives are entertainment, even if acting/performing is only their job.