Does knowing about the lives of celebrities ruin their entertainment value?

[SilentMute]

I'm not going to say I really believe the tabloids. I never was one to look at them, but then I started getting embarrassed when I was in conversations and didn't know who my friends were talking about.

Frankly, I don't really care about who is gay, who is cheating on who, who is a coke addict, etc. However, I suspect my aversion comes more from the fact that the more I know about a celebrity, the harder it is for me to enjoy their movies.

For instance, I am a huge Tombraider fan...and so of course, I liked the two movies in which Angelina Jolie played the heroine. She was a very good Lara Croft. Ah, but I miss the days when I didn't know who Angelina Jolie was--and I often confused her with Ashley Judd.

Sometimes when I'm bored, I like to fantasize. And here is when knowing about the supposed lives of celebrities becomes a problem:

Lara Croft cautiously steps forward, hands ready on the butt of her pistols. She can hear the pattering of numerous footsteps behind her. She needs to grab the sacred artifact quick before her enemies close in and discover her. She leaps over a dart trap, though one grazes her thigh. No matter...fortunately it isn't poisoned tipped--and what is a little blood to Lara Croft? She moves up to the offering table, ready to grab the artifact. Suddenly, acting on pure instinct, she dodges just in time as a pillar crashes. She sighs. That was too close. She grabs the artifact, but the footsteps have stopped just outside the corridor. She quickly puts the artifact in her lucky backpack and draws her weapons.

From outside, an angry voice says, "Mommy! Zahara put bubble gum in Shiloh's hair! And Knox is finger-painting with the "paint" he found in his diaper!

It totally ruins the fantasy. Does this happen to everyone else, or am I weird?

[soundofmusic]

I try not to pay too much attention to celebrities private lives since I was disillusioned by rumors of pedophilia for one great and several murder cases surrounding others. In those cases, I was unable to ever listen to their music or watch the actors without those images in my head.

I sometimes think that the studios should keep the actors private lives private, as they did in the old film days. Most of us never knew that many of the great actors known as ladies men were not into ladies at all or only barely.
I would rather not have close ups on the sexy stars eyes, so that I can see that they are stoned; or hear that they have bad breath.

I like my stars mysterious

[papayahed]

It doesn't really bother me, it kinda annoys me that they get all this recognition for working in front of a camera. Big Whoop. (Don't get me started on my rant about a show in a chemical plant..)

The best example is Neil Patrick Harris, who's gay but still plays some great straight characters in Harold and Kumar and that mother show.

[papayahed]

Does anybody know what happened with that Pete Townsend/child porn investigation?

[soundofmusic]

It doesn't really bother me, it kinda annoys me that they get all this recognition for working in front of a camera. Big Whoop.
When I was a kid I used to love to practice hiding my face with my hand and smiling while I got into the car; just in case I became a big star:cool::wave:


Does anybody know what happened with that Pete Townsend/child porn investigation?

I googled about 20 pages, finally there was a tiny article from 5/2010, from an unknown newspaper or fan magazine that said he had been cleared...

I always got creaped out when I heard the song from "Tommy" about the wierd uncle and cousin...

That's another interesting point, it's not always their lives but how they act...

I love Billy Joel, but at one taped concert, I saw him unzip his pants and pull out....

Do you remember when Madonna put out the picture book, "My Pu***"

I loved Culture Club, but after Boy George told everyone about his boyfriend; I could feel the poor fellows embarrassment everytime they performed

[papayahed]

I googled about 20 pages, finally there was a tiny article from 5/2010, from an unknown newspaper or fan magazine that said he had been cleared...

I always got creaped out when I heard the song from "Tommy" about the wierd uncle and cousin...

That's another interesting point, it's not always their lives but how they act...

I love Billy Joel, but at one taped concert, I saw him unzip his pants and pull out....

Do you remember when Madonna put out the picture book, "My Pu***"

I loved Culture Club, but after Boy George told everyone about his boyfriend; I could feel the poor fellows embarrassment everytime they performed

This reminds me of song lyrics. You know those song with the horrible mysoginistic lyrics but damn it if they don't have a good beat and a catchy chorus. Do I not listen on prinicple or do I cave and shake my groove thang to the beat??

(I thought the Madonna book was called "Sex")

[OrphanPip]

It depends on the celebrity, some of them are only interesting because of the crazy things they do.

Although, I certainly think the way Mel Gibson has behaved has kind of ruined him as an actor, not that I was ever that big of a fan.

Another recent one is Charlie Sheen beating up his wife, you'd think that would ruin his sitcom career, but they're still making that awful Two and A Half Men.

Edit: I actually watch TMZ, so I'm only just barely short of being the kind of person who buys tabloids.

[JuniperWoolf]

Edit: I actually watch TMZ, so I'm only just barely short of being the kind of person who buys tabloids.

Oh God Pip, say it ain't so! A McGill graduate watching that slop?

[OrphanPip]

Oh God Pip, say it ain't so! A McGill graduate watching that slop?

I know, a graduate of the most elite institution in the country, I should be drinking champagne and eating caviar while discussing opera. Yet, alas I'd rather hear about Lohan's recent jail conviction.

I think I get a pass though, because I'm gay. That excuses everything.

[Helga]

I don't read tabloids and don't really care about their private lives except maybe when they do something good with their money... but it dosen't really affect the movies they play in, for example a lot of people hated woody allen when the scandal of his wifes daughter came up but I still think he is my favourite director andI really don't care where he met his wife...

[Revolte]

I have no real opinion, but I'm glad now to know I never want to meet Mel Gibson, and if I do I want to be really really really drunk, or on something else, like pain killers. On the other hand speaking of Angelina, after learning about her past on some documentry thing a few years ago, my respect for her has gone up alot.

[L.M. The Third]

I don't watch very many movies, so I've never seen a lot of celebrities act. Frankly, I don't care to see a lot who are frequently the subjects of tabloid gossip. It seems like their lives are more about making a stir than anything. Not to say that talented, and even generally sensible, people can't be gossiped about - that happens even in the non-hollywood world. But, no, I really don't want to watch Mel Gibson (who I've only seen once anyways), or others who do not live their lives with decency and treat others with respect.

Angelina Jolie has been mentioned. I don't know her back ground, and have only once watched a movie she acted in, so I probably shouldn't judge her. But due to the facts that I don't like her life style, and am not interested in her roles or acting, I would not want to watch her.

I frankly can't understand why our society worships celebrities so much. There's nothing "wrong", in my opinion, with being an entertainer. But it's just a career. They aren't any more special than the person down the street. And some aren't particularly talented, they are just "beautiful".

I am, however, a huge fan of British actress Emma Thompson. I know quite a bit about her life, but it has in no way made me enjoy her acting less. She has not entirely escaped gossip, but generally her genuine kindness, moral strength, and down-to-earth attitude, have helped to keep her "real" and respectable. She's the kind of person you would love to have as a next door neighbor, or a close relative. So, while it's her brilliant acting and great roles that drew me to her, it's the person she is that made me a fanatic.

[DanielBenoit]

Who said celebs were entertaining to begin with?

Nah, just kidding. But is it just me or does it seem that today all of the best actors and actresses keep their cooch in their skirt and their coke in their nose, instead of sneezing it up all over the front page of Newsweek.

[soundofmusic]

I once saw Mel Gibson in one of our shopping malls in Miami; the poor fellow looked like something invisible was chasing him. He was much better looking than even on screen; but you could tell the fellow had real problems even in those days. The problem is, his mental status affects his on stage delivery.

I guess that's the thing, whether their personal life touches their film appearances. I still love Tom Cruise as an actor and Angelina, or however many look-alikes they have, still is breath-taking on screen.

I never really cared for Melissa Ethridges music; but "coming out" moved the focus to her sexuality. The same happened with Ann Heche; but it didn't really affect me with k.d. lang or ellen degeneres.

[SilentMute]

One of the highlights of my life was when Emma Thompson wrote me back after I sent her a fan letter. She does seem to be a generally nice person.

Acting is just a career, though it seems to draw a very sensitive type of personality that is often self-destructive. It must be a stressful career, and while fame is nice, it must be rather unnerving and annoying. I'm not famous, but I'm a person that often gets a lot of attention...and I have to admit it can be rather tiresome.

Sometimes I even wonder if there really is a Tom Cruise or Angelina Jolie. I know this sounds crazy...but sometimes I wonder if Angelina Jolie isn't a role played by an actress. She and Brad really aren't married, the children aren't theirs. Everybody gets together and does a photo shoot.

I swear Maddox has gotten younger. Shiloh keeps celebrating her third birthday, I'm sure--and the kid in the photographs looks much older than three. She is missing teeth, and she has better coordination than a three year old.

Generally, I don't care...but I have to admit that I enjoy actors that manage not to make the tabloids a lot more in movies. Like Tom Hanks.

[soundofmusic]

I was tickled when George Chakiris answered a letter I wrote after I saw him live in M. Butterfly.

I love Tom Hanks, he's so ordinary; and I always liked John Travolta for the same reason. I actually like Travolta alittle better with age.