Sunday, September 24, 2017
Sunday Reflection: Upon meeting a celebrity
Sometimes I find myself around celebrities. There are some of them I really admire (usually writers or teachers), but some of them... I don't really get it. Our nation sometimes seems oddly in thrall to celebrities, and especially actors and athletes.
Here is something I don't get: Why is it that if there is a hit show, they trot out an actor or actress to go on a talk show? The interviews are usually vapid and meaningless; rarely is there even much insight into them acting in that particular thing. Often that movie or television show is written by people who base it on a book-- can't we hear sometimes from the people who actually constructed the story?
And religious celebrities-- horrifying! Jerry Falwell Jr., Joel Osteen... and there are so many people out there doing much more selfless, important work.
What I find especially discouraging is being around celebrities who really do see themselves as more important than everyone else in a room or a building or a city. They may be excellent at their work-- often they are-- but that is true of a lot of people in that place, usually. In that circumstance, I usually just ignore them.
Sometimes, of course, I do come across one of those people whose work has genuinely affected me. In that circumstance, I will go up to them, shake their hand, and say something like "Bob, I admire your work." then I go do something else.
