By Ryan ReehThe Daily Northwestern
Did you hear what happened to Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz? How about the one with George Clooney and any other single female celebrity in Hollywood? What about Rosie and The Donald? Or for that matter, Rosie and anyone who disagrees with her?
Do we really care?
It’s no surprise society is fascinated with stories of grandeur and slander. In 2005, People magazine ranked up with a little over 3.7 million circulation, according to infoplease.com. Of course, this doesn’t include the people reading People who pick up the magazine at the checkout line.
But is the American Dream fading because of the power of celebrity to achieve things ordinary people can only aspire to?
Unlike you and me, celebrities seemingly have no restrictions when it comes how to lead their lives. Like invincible juggernauts, famous people can get away with murder, lust and anything else you could name from the Ten Commandments or the seven deadly sins. Consider the examples of O.J. Simpson and Angelina Jolie.
With Simpson, he was found not guilty despite the overwhelming evidence against him in a murder trial that defined the 20th century idea of a media circus. Then late last year, in a move only a man with a reputation could achieve, he had the gall to write a book, “If I Did It,” and nearly get an exclusive interview on FOX (the good shepherds of journalism, naturally). Sure, Simpson isn’t a man many people would come to admire, but he did get people talking about him.
In Jolie’s case, her beauty charmed Brad Pitt into breaking up with his wife, Jennifer Aniston. In some cultures, that might be considered adultery. To make certain she wouldn’t sully her own name, she then became a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. and began adopting children from African nations. Then, as recently as two weeks ago, Jolie’s seams fell apart as she questioned Madonna’s adoptions, pushed her way through a crowd at a premiere and became uncooperative with a photographer while shooting the cover for Vogue. Again, any press is good press for Jolie because people will gather around the water cooler to talk about her life.
Whatever the case, we look at stars as a measure of our own lives, because they can dictate what we should be doing to be more like them. The Oprah Book Club tells us what to read (after the James Frey debacle, it is returning), Martha Stewart teaches us how to perfectly cook and craft projects, and Bono of U2 asks us to buy Red to make a difference.
However, if you notice, this celebrity fervor to do good or bad often inspires apathy, rather than action. The “Can Do” attitude of America has been lost because we are so busy star-gazing rather than focusing on the issue at hand. Is it so hard to ask a nation to wake up?
American Idol, for all of the bad things to come with it, is actually a great example of the ideal kind of idolatry – the story of ordinary people rising to the ranks of stardom through pure talent, judged by professionals and the viewing public. Contestants, even if they don’t end up winning, often become inspired to better themselves. The formerly illiterate Idol winner Fantasia Barrino learned how to read and went on to become a star on Lifetime. Jennifer Hudson lived her dream after Idol to become a star in “Dreamgirls,” a role for which she is now winning awards left and right.
This is what makes a true celebrity, hard work on an unprecedented stage. Celebrities are not the people featured on “Entertainment Tonight” or the targets of paparazzi. They are people who achieve their dreams through hard work to inspire themselves and others to do good works. The American Dream of success and opportunity can never die if we continue to aspire to impossible goals by our own will.
Live on your own terms, not on the ones of celebrities making a career out of rumors about themselves.
Reach Ryan Reeh at [email protected].
