Celebrities, particularly
actors, use their talents to create a
make-believe world of meaning, value and importance for hundreds
of millions
of hungry consumers of movies and television programs around the
world. They become rich and famous in the process of
making billions of dollars for the film and television
industries. People have become resigned that even though their lives
will most probably never resemble life in the movies, at least
we can accept that almost everyone is in the same boat. It
can be said that there is a shared conspiracy of rock-bottom low
expectations of the standards which govern the quality of our
lives and of those of most everyone around us. After all,
everyone knows that no matter how hard we try, life is always
better and more exciting in the movies.
Sure their are many
exceptions. Their are many accomplished people who stand
out as extraordinary examples of civic leadership and family
role-models. There are the successful entrepreneurs and
the exemplary religious leaders. Truth be told, they are
the exceptions. Most people at some point in their life
settle for the fact that their life is not and will never be a
reflection of everything they imagined and dreamed possible for
themselves when the idealism of youth provided endless hope for
a brighter future.
What would truly make
everyone's lives more meaningful and interesting is if every
celebrity and billionaire donated their entire fortune to
charity on the same day and found themselves in a situation of
having to earn an income based on the real contribution that
they actually make to their communities, to society and to the
world. Since this will never happen, the best we can hope
for is that those of us who contribute to puffing up celebrities
will wake up and realize that putting them on a pedestal creates
an escape from reality and an opiate of the masses relieving
countless people from ever having to make anything extraordinary
of their own lives.
Does this mean we should stop
watching television and movies all together? Perhaps, but
not necessarily. Hollywood is subject to the market forces
of supply and demand. It wouldn't be a bad idea to start
being very selective about what kinds of stories we reward at
the box office and what kinds of television programs we allow to
come into our homes influencing the hearts and minds of our
children. At least this way, celebrities would have a
harder time making themselves rich while poisoning our minds
with content that only makes our society and world culturally sicker
and poorer.
