Making it Up As I Go

So I don’t mean to add to the tons and tons of wasted paper/ cyberspace being dedicated to this topic, but I have to sound in for just a moment. WHO CARES WHY JENNIFER AND BRAD ARE BREAKING UP?? Honestly! I like these actors as much as the next person, but it is none of my business why their marriage is breaking up. Nor is it anyone elses business, except perhaps their friends and family. Are we so suckered in to the idea of celebrity that we honestly don’t remember that these two are real people going through a tragedy in their lives? Or are we just such sadists that we can’t stop digging in deeper to see the pretty priviledged people bleed? I don’t buy into the statement that as actors they signed on for this, pursuing your craft is not the same as selling your soul, and I definitly don’t buy the argument that people are fans of them together and that they owe those fans an explanation.

Number 1: You can’t be fans of a MARRIAGE! Ok, I take that back a little. I fully believe that you can admire how well a couple do in the work that is marriage, and that seeing a couple work through a difficult time can be uplifting and reinforce your faith in love and all that. But keep it to a couple YOU KNOW! We as a public don’t really know anything about their marriage, we only know what we’ve been told by people who don’t really know either. The people who pull this argument don’t feel betrayed, they just want the dirt.

Number 2: People who do feel betrayed by this breakup- GET OVER IT! These people do not live their lives for your amusement or gratification.

Number 3: Actors, celebrities, don’t owe anyone anything on a personal level. (Except of course, people they know on a personal level.) I’m sure people will disagree with me, but that’s my stance and I’m sticking to it. The obligation that actors have to their audience is to work their hardest when they’re filming, to be honest in their craft. That’s it. We can expect them to be polite and respectful, but no more than we’d expect from any other human being. No one else alive (save perhaps Mother Teresa) would stay civil and smiling with people stopping to talk to them while they’re eating dinner, taking pictures of them while they’re walking the dog, or gossiping about their private life to everyone in the world. Again, let me make a slight exception- if the actor is trying to get money for being an actor- for example, signing at a convention- then they have an obligation to be nice and genial, as people are paying them for the experience. But other than that, they owe no one a thing. We don’t ask lawyers or doctors to put up with crap just because they get paid a lot of money, and really, it’s the same ballgame folks.

I realize that I’m being hypocritical, since I read the gossip pages as much as anyone. I’m making it a goal as of this moment to do that less. They have a right to their life, and this isn’t high school anymore. We’re supposed to be above this by now.