fame and fortune
Charlotte has been discussing the actor Tom Cruise on her blog and his ramblings about all sorts of topics, such as mental illness, post-partnum depression and Scientology. After reading this, I got to thinking about fame in general. Some anonymous person grows up and says that their fondest wish is to become a actor/musician/writer/singer, you fill in the blanks. They work hard at their chosen profession and eventually gain fame and fortune.
When this famous person is interviewed they are asked all sorts of questions, including ones about their childhood, their influences, interests, hobbies, pets and anything else the interviewer can wring out of them. There seems to be an endless prurient interest by the public in the comings and goings of movie stars and other famous entertainment personalities. In the course of their daily lives they answer all the above questions over and over until everyone can quote the answers practically word for word. Eventually it comes to a point where reporters will ask the star what they think of the current war/political situation/famine, once again you fill in the others and the star will give their views on a complex issue with whatever level of skill they have and the media will further compress this for time, until we have the star solving the world’s problems, in under 60 seconds, to make room for commercials.
The star realizes, of course, that the world is watching and listening to their opinion on a big international crisis and can then put their support behind it. In some cases this can be a big help, getting the cameras focuses on a problem that, without the star, might get no media at all, but in some cases, the ill-informed opinions of stars can do more damage than good. Take Bono and his crusade to stop African famine. I wholeheartedly support stopping the famine and I’m one of the first to say let’s reduce Third World debt, but throwing money at countries, where often there is the problem of corrupt officials, is not the best way to solve things. Also, the Africans themselves were indifferent at best to Bono and his efforts. The Guardian had interviews with many ordinary people in various African countries who didn’t like the music and figured that it was Westerners with nothing better to do but meddle in other people’s affairs. Interesting attitude, I thought.
Getting back on topic, my big question is this. Why does anyone in the world think that a star has a more informed opinion than anyone else in the world, and that their opinions should be given any weight at all? We seem stuck on the idea that Tom Cruise or anyone else for that matter is fascinating enough to devote massive amounts of time to. Personally I think that with the insular lifestyle of most people wanting to succeed in a very competitive field, that they have less exposure to the real world and should therefore, be listened to less when it comes to world affairs.
