My problem with celebrities began back in the ‘70s. I took a train from Kenosha, Wisconsin, to Chicago to attend my first Star Trek convention. I had fun mixing with some of the actors and science fiction writers who created Star Trek. And back then, the actors and writers actually mingled with the fans without entourages and security. (Science fiction writer Harlan Ellison was very entertaining.)
That first science fiction convention introduced me to a new world: let’s call it Planet Celebrity. The convention dazzled me and I left with an even greater love of Star Trek and science fiction. But there was a downside: I discovered that Planet Celebrity was populated by humans, and many of these humans were not the best examples of humanity.
There is nothing more disappointing than meeting or seeing one of your favorite actors up close and discovering that he or she isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, or is an egotistical monster. One of the actors I saw couldn’t put two words together to form a sentence. Some of the actors actually believed that, along with Jesus Christ, God had sent them directly to us for immediate deification. Being a young lad with little experience outside of Kenosha, Wisconsin, I had never met people who actually thought they should be worshipped. It was quite a shock.
As time went on, other actors, singers, and celebrities fell out of favor with me. I used to like Tom Cruise’s performances. But I reached a point where I could no longer watch him on the screen without thinking of all the news stories about his participation in a strange, cult-like religion. When I could no longer separate the actor from the negative publicity, I couldn’t enjoy any movie he was in.
Diversity was not the norm when I was growing up, so I didn’t listen to a lot of black singers, but that changed, in part because of Michael Jackson. His music appealed to me. Because of it, I started to seek out other types of music. I became especially fond of Delta Blues.
Article comments
1 - Joanne Huspek
It is often said that artists are genius and genius is antisocial. It could explain the self-destruct tendency so many of them exhibit. It's especially true of actors who come alive in their scripts, but are otherwise uninteresting (or quirky, odd, weird, etc.) human beings.
Me? I'm a cynic and don't even put my doctor on a pedestal, much less anyone else. We are all human, even those of us with talent.
2 - The Crow
Thanks for the comment!