Sunday Sunrise - Feb 10

[Head Mutant]

Today's topic is one we've bounced around on Mutant Reviewers from time to time, but we'd love to hear your thoughts.

As a member of the movie-going public, should an actor or director's personal life (including beliefs, actions, relationships and controversies) be of any interest to us or have any impact on watching their movies? If not, why is there a whole business devoted to covering celeb life (E!, magazines, rumor columns, etc.)?

[Rett Mikhal]

No, for the simple reason it's total hypocrisy. I'd bet all my Star Wars action figures (except the Fett man) that at least 90% of the male reporters that busted Ben Affleck when he went to the nudie bar have probably been to more nudie bars than Affleck. But that's not evil, because they're not celebs. Only bad celebs are bad people. Not to mention IT'S JUST A STRIP CLUB. There's about 80,000 in California alone.

You know what the worst part of it is? Criminals get more respect from the press than celebrities do. If a criminal tries to repent and become a decent functioning member of society, it's a touching story. If a celeb gets busted and tries to make up for it by doing charity work (or having ALREADY done charity work) everyone looks at him/her like they're the biggest perverts/douchebags on the planet.

This just blows my mind. The amount of perfection we put upon them is just unacceptably retarded. Every single hint of anything slightly not koucher gets blown into epic proportions. It's always something like Britney Spears was caught smoking a cigarette on her break. When questioned, her mother gave no comment but we are assuming Ms. Spears is on her way to rehab. Meanwhile sales of her new album have plummeted and I just miscarried. Imagine if we did this with any other profession. Imagine if construction workers were looked down upon for getting drunk and suddenly everyone turned their backs on them because clearly they aren't responsible human beings.

[Ms. Jellybean]

The only thing that happens to an actor that should influence me seeing them in the movies is if they died or not. Period.

People claim that these actors deserve it because they put themselves into the spotlight. But really, they're just doing a job. Yes, this job is quite cushy compared to that of the average American, but that's a completely different topic for another thread another day. The fact that actors/celebrities in general are put upon such a platform for us to gawk is something created by the normal public, not the desires of the famous. Sure, some are all about attention. And some use the fact that they're famous to push some personal agenda. But in the end, it's someone who is doing a job and in many cases are people too.

[TheOogieBoogieMan]

I'm reminded of a clip I saw on Youtube from Fox News. They had Montel Williams on to discuss Heath Ledger's death, but Montel kept berating the newscasters for not devoting their time to the soldiers that had recently died in Iraq.

It seems to me that people want their news the way they want their food: cheap and tasty. It's easier to report on which wealthy, attractive person is cheating on which other wealthy, attractive person than it is to report on war and death and disease and corruption. Which is to say, reporting on those four things in a critical, challenging manner, as opposed to the "It's in your dinner, and it can kill you! Find out at 11!" style of scare-tactics newscasting that's frustratingly popular these days.

Personally, I would prefer if newscasts were more like this.

EDIT: Oh, right, there's some swearing...

[CheshireKat]

I myself have no interest in any celebrities personal life, (with the exception of wondering what dark ritual Paris Hilton used to sell her soul to the devil in order to trick the world into thinking she's worth anyone's time), but before we go too far out of our way commiserating with our celebutastic brethren, let's keep in mind, they're the ones have worked so hard into order to be worldwide stars.

No we shouldn't be the slightest bit interested in the personal lives of anyone we're not personally involved with, but that's not human nature, and that's not the world we live in. The fact of the matter is that people buy stuff like this (in globs) and hence, other people sell it. It's simply the way things are. No amount of celebrity whining is going to change the fact that people are interested in who they are in real life, which is, generally speaking, what happens when you go out your way to gain worldwide notoriety and fame.

Britney spent the first half of her life elbowing her way into the limelight, and then once she got there realized she was in no way mature enough to handle it. Yes, the proliferation of the shameless airing of famous people's dirty laundry is a bit morally reprehensible, but that's the downside to celebrity. If you can't handle fame, don't seek it out.

[StarOpal]

Since there are, apparently, a lot of people putting money into these things, which I don't understand, I can only speak for myself.

I. Don't. Care.

Heck, I have a hard enough time keeping up with my family and friends' drama - you know, those people who actually matter to me personally - to put up with some celebrity's garbage.

I've never bought one of those magazines, and gave up watching those shows when I got sick of the gossip outwaying the movie information.

My interest in an actor or director's personal life goes as far as: 1) will it impact a movie (death or leaving a project) 2) Random trivia (I wonder how old or tall they are?). I don't care who they're with, what drugs they're on, their adopted kid, or their latest diet. It's none of my business.

To me an actor is two people at once. The "Actor" (or director, but we'll go with actors to make this easy): that's the person I see on screen. I can comment on how they portrayed something or looked in the movie or have a crush on them. The person: None of my business. I don't care if they're famous, there's no call to hound somebody or post information on the lives of their children. (When they bring kids into it - that really ticks me off!)

Besides if I know too much about the the person half, it might affect how I feel about the actor half. How many people didn't watch 3:10 to Yuma 'cause they can't stand Russell Crowe? I know of at least three. Since I don't keep up with that stuff, I was happy as a clam.

Not to say that I don't form an attachment to actors, but it's more like I'm glad that they got that award, or it's just a shame they died. Kind of like you would for someone you saw every once in a while, but weren't actually friends with. I don't think there's any actors that I would really like to meet face to face. Not that it wouldn't be cool, but I wouldn't go out of my way to make it happen, or feel like -just because they're famous- I know them or have the right to act like I do.

But -and I realize that there's probably already something wrong with such a person- I think when you get wrapped up so much in a famous person's personal life, that's when it can lead to stalking and other dark things.

Did that lead away from the point of the question? I got lost in rambling in there somewhere. And I think quite a bit of my grammar's bad....

No, I don't care about actors or directors' personal lives, and I don't think it should have an impact on a movie, and I don't know why it's such big business.

[PoolMan]

oogieboogieman said:

It seems to me that people want their news the way they want their food: cheap and tasty.

BRILLIANT metaphor, and exactly how I feel. Well put.

I'd also add "bite sized". Even when we get headline news and away from the celeb crap, I challenge you to find unbiased news coverage on any one piece that lasts longer than a minute. The only time it goes longer is when it's editorial (spicy?).

[Magill]

Maybe it's the wine, but I'm about to get very anthropological on everyone.

I'm sure we can all agree that humans are primates. I'm sure everyone is aware that primates have the habit of grooming each other to strengthen social bonds. Some evolutionary biologists theorize that one of the reasons humans still have head hair is to give them something to groom.

Eventually, human groups reached the size where it was no longer feasible for each member to groom each and every other member. There had to be some other mechanism for this social bonding. A lot of researchers think that small talk functions as a sort of verbal grooming. Gossip does the same sort of thing.

In our super-connected lifestyle, there's very little we can all gossip about. Celebrities are one of the things we can.

[PoolMan]

So... celebrity is part of the evolution process?

[StarOpal]

No, the point is being a celebrity gives you lice.

[PoolMan]

And worse, if recent news is any indication.

Paging Ms Spears, paging Ms Spears...

[Rett Mikhal]

magill said:

Maybe it's the wine, but I'm about to get very anthropological on everyone.

I'm sure we can all agree that humans are primates. I'm sure everyone is aware that primates have the habit of grooming each other to strengthen social bonds. Some evolutionary biologists theorize that one of the reasons humans still have head hair is to give them something to groom.

Eventually, human groups reached the size where it was no longer feasible for each member to groom each and every other member. There had to be some other mechanism for this social bonding. A lot of researchers think that small talk functions as a sort of verbal grooming. Gossip does the same sort of thing.

In our super-connected lifestyle, there's very little we can all gossip about. Celebrities are one of the things we can.

The day I see a biomedical scientist swallow their pride and admit humans are flawed, dismal, borderline worthless creatures is the day I'll believe the crap that comes out of their mouths flies or floats.

There's one advantage of not caring about anyone's gossip that I can care less about the "more important" celebrity gossip. I get mad when people ask each other who they're dating. Does that really matter? Do you REALLY need to know? At what point are you going to use that information for anything remotely benevolent? Some people pride themselves on being able to keep secrets, but you know what's an easier way to keep secrets? Just shut your damn mouth. Don't ask questions that don't concern you. It's all coming down to Entropy.

[TheLuckyOne]

rettmikhal said:

The day I see a biomedical scientist swallow their pride and admit humans are flawed, dismal, borderline worthless creatures is the day I'll believe the crap that comes out of their mouths flies or floats.

Flawed I'll give you, but the rest? Somebody's taken one too many philosophy courses from Thomas Hobbes.

I myself am 92% worthwhile.

-D

[Rett Mikhal]

I've seen a lot of weird stuff; Nothing thus far has convinced me humans have a right to exist as a specie.

[Head Mutant]

This just in: Lindsay Lohan is appearing nude in the latest edition of New Yorker.

In unrelated news, we're not going to see Kyle for a good two weeks.