Dip’s Hits

I just read a fascinating story about a poor actress who thought she was being chased by paparazzi ended up hitting another car in a parking lot… Says the LA Times Actually, it wasn’t fascinating at all. It was boring. I’ve never heard of the actress, yet, four minivans of photographers had been following her around for days hoping to get a shot of her going to Disneyland?

Tens of thousands of people go to Disneyland a day. What makes this chick so special that people risk other people’s lives, chasing them around, causing accidents?

Here’s the rub- I don’t care about this actress. I care far more for the woman whose car was hit.. BY THE ACTRESS. Here is a person, with her kids, getting sideswiped by a crazed fruitcake actress. All this poor woman wanted to do was take her kids to see an oversized rodent.

Why do people go into acting? TO GET FAMOUS. Why do they want to be famous? So that people will follow them around admiring them. How do they admire them? By taking photos. It is just so ironic that they want to decide when and where. Too bad- you make a deal like that, you live with the consequences. Many people would want to change places with you- and will, at any time. Good actors are a dime a dozen. Literally. Actually, good actors are often free. Go to a community theather sometime. You’ll be impressed.

I also read that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.. hold your breath… WENT TO A MUSEUM. Yes, I know, I’m dumfounded myself. It was on the front page of Google News, which if it can be believed means that it was considered news to a large portion of the world. What really struck me was:

The Mr and Mrs Smith co-stars and four-year-old Maddox enjoyed a tour of the Royal Tyrrell Museum near Drumheller on Saturday, confirms the museum’s spokeswoman Wendy Taylor.

Taylor enthuses, “They did not ask us to close the museum or for an after-hours visit or any special treatment. “

Here’s a newsflash. When I went to the museum… I didn’t ask them to close the museum. Nor did I ask for special treatment. Hey Wendy- be sure to tell them that too. Actually, I bet Wendy would tell you that no one asks for special treatment. When should special treatment be afforded? Well, when security is at risk, that would be important. Like if a foreign dignitary was visiting- I could see special arrangements being done. Having acted like a foreign dignitary doesn’t count.

I like Brad Pitt- Fight Club and 12 Monkeys are some of my favorite movies. Yes, Brad Pitt is in 12 Monkeys, though he’s hard to recognize- which is a mark of a good actor, I’d say. Angelina Jolie? I think she pretty much defines fruitcake. But, she’s using her fame for good things- trying to bring attention to poverty in developing nations. So, that gets her some credit.

But… why all the attention? What did Brad Pitt do *before* he became famous? . Younger brother Doug, sister Julie. His dad, Bill, was a former manager of a trucking company. His mom, Jane was a high school counselor. So, he went to public school, was liked by his friends, went to college, then decided to try acting. Good for him- he made it. And Angelina is only now getting respect because of what she’s done *after* she was famous? I don’t even want to know, but it probably has a lot to do with her dad being a famous actor. Watch Hackers if you want further proof.  Even she knows it: Angelina Jolie told CNN reporter Anderson Cooper in her first U.S. interview since the birth of her daughter that she had a stupid income for what she does, of which she aknowledged she gave a third to charity.”
Now, let’s take a look at this compared to the general public. From Brad’s point of view (since that’s a little more realistic), he went to school for a while, then wanted to go into acting. He set off on his own, was in a bunch of bit parts, and finally got noticed. That’s a dream a lot of people have. Watch the end credits of a movie sometime. Look at all the names of bit players that go by. Each of them wants to be Brad Pitt. A good percentage of them are equally good actors. Most of them did like Brad did, and went to school, then decided they wanted to act- and set off to Hollywood with the money in their wallet and the shirt on their back to get them through.

But, it boils down to dumb luck. Somehow Brad got noticed. It isn’t devine intervention that picks the most talented or best looking actor out of a crowd of wannabees. Sometimes it is who you know, other times, it is who you bl.. Come to think of it, you could say that for most corporate executive leadership teams, though, to their minor credit, they have to do a lot before they get ‘picked’.

So, what’s the point of all this? Here it is: all those people who pursue acting are chasing a stupid and ridiculous dream. I mean, it is playing the lottery with your life and happiness. I think the lottery is stupid, but at least it helps pay for public schools. Dropping out of your life to become an actor is just plain dumb. In the big picture.. what good are these people doing? I hear in my head one of the male models from Zoolander saying “We help people style their hair in new and interesting ways.”

Rant: Wanting to become an actor is self-loathing. It means, you don’t like the person that you are and want to pretend to be someone else. It means, you have no purpose other than to serve as entertainment for people who do contribute to society. It means you’re the 21st century version of a court jester or sideshow.

What should you do? Who should you admire? Everyone who has a job. That telemarketer with whom I just spoke (nicely (which is rare), because she was nice) handles more pressure than Angelina Jolie ever could… every day. She has to deal with people hanging up on her, yelling at her, threatening her… and she has the pressure to perform and push whatever project or product she’s being paid for. Does she want that job? Hell no. She wants to be like Angelina and have to ‘work’ a couple of months out of the year. But she does it because she has to- she needs to have a place to live and food to eat.

Eat? Let’s get to the meat of this rant. The people we should look up to and admire are those who try to make the world a better place… without the carrot of fame and fortune dangling in front of them. Teachers are an easy pick. I’ve had amazing teachers growing up.

But, who you should really admire are scientists. These are the people who advance technology, medicine, space exporation, food production… teaching methods… and even entertainment. I’ve worked and associated with many of them, and am incredibly impressed by their dedication and quest for learning new things. I look up to them. The glory of creating or discovering something new is what drives them. They aren’t doing this so they don’t have to work. They go to school forever, and get a fairly secure job, but with not a whole lot of growth potential. They work in fairly mundane surroundings (but, to them, it is a toy shop!) and pursue their work with an incredible diligence. When one of them strikes it big, they’re initially happy that some interest is being shown in their field, but secretly think the person is selling out rather than further advancing their science.

I’d love a world where scientists are the superstars. Where I read about the guy who cured the common cold can’t go visit the zoo without throngs of admiring fans chasing him around. Where the inventor of the hovercar is being pursued by a pack of cold fusion
SUV-driving paparazzi…

Let’s hope for the world where the scientist is what all kids want to be when they grow up.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 24th, 2005 at 10:00 am and is filed under Rants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.