Broken Mirrors of Our Souls
Celebrities are the broken
mirrors of our own flawed souls. Robert De Niro and Colin Kaepernick are just the latest examples. This is made clear when they presume to instruct their 'fans' on how to think politically. They’re
our broken dreams that bleed, overdose, marry five times, abuse their kids, murder,
rape, lie, cheat, and steal… all with celebrity immunity and impunity. No matter how bad their behavior, they get the
best tables at clubs, the inside deals denied to others, the glowing press for
their most trivial efforts, and the shortest sentences or no sentence at all
for their crimes. Peasants drool on the ooze from their every orifice. Then,
they die, immediately elevated to immortality’s pantheon. So, why do we enlarge them in death beyond
what they were in life? Some say they were superior beings unlike the rest of
us. Some say we do it out of jealousy. We see them as superlatively glamourous,
rich, sexy, popular, thin, demi-gods. “Oh, if only that were me!” we murmur at the mere glimpse or sound of
them. “I would be so good to people, so
generous with my money. If I were like them I would make a difference in this
cruel world”, we dream. And there it is, isn’t
it? Just so. Celebrities are the broken dreams of our souls.
The latest
celebrity to die is Sutter Brown. Who? You ask? Sutter, until his death at the
ripe old age of 13 was Governor Jerry Brown’s Pembroke Welsh corgi. As befitting his celebrity, part
of the gubernatorial press release reads;
“Sutter passed away peacefully this afternoon
with the Governor and First Lady at his side and was laid to rest at the family
ranch in Colusa County, where he loved to roam, sniff and play,” Brown
spokesman Evan Westrup said in a statement Friday afternoon.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article123862369.html#storylink=cpy
Adding to the global grief orgy
is the news that Pan Pan just died the day before Christmas. “Who?” You ask? Pan Pan was the oldest living male
panda. His legendary virility accounts for his 130 children. That’s 25 % of all
Pandas in captivity. What a guy!
And then there was Hamrabe, perhaps the greatest instant
celebrity to die in 2015. His social media memes are exploited for every
conceivable screwball cause, or lame-brained notion. Why? He’s a famous dead
animal, And, oh…if only we could be as good as Hamrabe, then the world would be
saved. No more hate, war, disease, hunger, or pain. That’s how unhinged
celebrity worshipers become.
One of the very icons of
celebrity was Marilyn Monroe. Few knew she saw right through fame down to its
corrosive core of the stars and the gazers.
“Success
makes so many people hate you. I wish it wasn't that way. It would be wonderful
to enjoy success without seeing envy in the eyes of those around you. You
believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself.”
“When you’re famous you kind of run into human nature in a raw kind
of way. It stirs up envy, fame does. People you run into feel that, well, who
is she who does she think she is, Marilyn Monroe? They feel fame gives them
some kind of privilege to walk up to you and say anything to you, you know, of
any kind of nature and it won’t hurt your feelings. Like it’s happening to your
clothing. One time here I am looking for a home to buy and I stopped at this
place. A man came out and was very pleasant and cheerful, and said, ‘Oh, just a
moment, I want my wife to meet you.’ Well, she came out and said, “Will you
please get off the premises?” You’re always running into people’s unconscious.”
― Marilyn Monroe
― Marilyn Monroe
I've known many celebrities from my days in
Hollywood. They're all dead now. None of them were dogs, cats, pandas or
gorillas. When each of them died, it bemused me to realize that they were
broken mirrors of our imperfections. All of them, and all of the most recent
2016 batch as we now see, were plagued in various degrees with addictions to
alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, casual sex, and the consequent dysfunctional
relationships that inevitably resulted. Yet, we idolized them making them
cartoons of their real self. Few, very few, knew their fame was just dumb luck
that had nothing to do with their talent or ability. Consider the active
members of the newly merged actors union in Hollywood, AFTRA-SAG. Of the total
active membership of 135,045 only 21,256 actually worked as an actor in 2016.
Many are called, but few are chosen. Money makes celebrity these days, not
talent or ability. Forbes has a list of the top 100 ‘celebrity’ money earners.
Check it out. All of them have no special talent at all except the ability to
become filthy rich and boring at the same time. THAT does take talent.
But ‘celebrity’ didn’t used to be
so venal, empty, and negative. Back in the day, celebrity was earned by display
of unique talent and ability to thrill a room full of people. Celebrity carried
with it a moral responsibility to be a positive role model for our young. Any hint of scandal would ruin a career then. Today, scandal makes a career. Shortly
before one of 'old school' died he told me, "Celebrity is corrosive and cancerous to the personality.
" He knew whereof he spoke. One day we were walking to
the opening of the then new SAG HQ on Hollywood Blvd. chatting away aimlessly
as was our custom. A gaggle of tourists fell out of a bus parked at the curb
nearby. Spotting my famous friend, they approached him vigorously shoving paper
and pen under his chin...."I've seen all your movies, and SPARTACUS was you're
very best...can I please have your autograph? Unruffled, and still finishing
his sentence to me, he took each paper and signed it in his grand scroll. While
signing the last one for his adoring 'fans' he said with no trace of irony or
sarcasm whatsoever, "Yes...I agree....SPARTACUS was a pretty good movie, nice
to meet you." As we parted company from his
'fans'...one bewildered lady read his signature out loud in an incredulous
voice. " Charlton Heston " Sotto voce, I could not resist
asking....but he cut me short."Yep...happens all the time....happens to Kirk Douglas too..." . That's what it's like being a
'celebrity'. You're the broken mirror of other selves. It's no wonder we
enlarge them in death far beyond what they were in life. May they all rest in
peace.
They earned it.
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