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In The Age of Idols

Good Guy Gossling

When I'm feeling verbally frisky during a conversational outing, I'll casually suggest that today's culture treats movie stars as gods. Good ice-breaker for you, right there. I'm using a rather loose meaning of the word "gods", so I'll clarify what I mean. The universal mindset regarding actors and actresses is not that they are omnipotent or omniscient. I think people won't sink to that level. What I mean when I say that, though, is that they are regarded as being outside of the realm of regular humankind. To be honest, though, I would love to hang out with Nicolas Cage. I think he'd be an absolute riot. Another person I would be very excited to spend time with is Jennifer Lawrence. Why? I think she's a real person in the midst of Hollywood shams. That's the thing, though. When speaking of these people, our illustrious cousins of Hollywood Boulevard, it's not about just seeing these people or being romantic with them. If you stop and think about it, it's kind of sad to be of the mindset "OMG I WISH I COULD SEE THIS PERSON AND TELL ALL MY FRIENDS!" Really, so you want to set eyes upon this person and that sets you up for bragging rights for all-time? You hold this person up to such a level that the idea of seeing them will send you into throes of joy? There is something seriously off-kilter with our attitude towards people.

 The whole "photoshop debacle" has come to light where people write articles decrying the mass media's use of photo editing to make stars hold to the model of beauty. Fix the cause, not the effect. The Hollywood allure is completely dependent upon the pervading mindset of the culture. That mindset sets up these thespians as untouchable icons, and the magazines and websites willingly supply the fodder to feed the calf. 

 Just like us "normal people", these men and women have lives. Some have wives and husbands. Jay-Z gets yelled at by Beyonce for not picking up groceries. Some have children. Angelina Jolie has probably changed more diapers than half the moms in your city. They do have talents that we can enjoy through entertainment. The ability to portray a character simply from a concept is amazing. Treating them with star-struck awe simply because they are well-known, however, cheapens the things that are really awe-inspiring. It's not really fair to the men and women that we actually know to hold them as separate and above these people we know nothing about. I know that I've treated actresses with more reverence in speaking and thought than women I actually know, and that's so wrong. Every single human being is incredible in the millions of experiences they have had, in the scope that every choice they make has had effect, by their accomplishments, or even by the fact that they are held in existence (which is unfathomable if you think about it deeply). Let's smash the idols and reveal the human beings. Nicolas Cage if you read this, though, shoot me an email.

 ~Worley

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