When To Say When With Celebrities

I was notified the other day that an aunt of mine won't watch any film with Tom Cruise in it, because she couldn't stand his commentary toward Brooke Shields. I don't remember the quote exactly, but it had to deal with her taking some kind of medication and Cruise being the Scientologist that he is, does not believe in taking medication. My barber's boyfriend for a time (not sure if he still does) couldn't watch any movie with stars outspoken against President Bush. He couldn't see "Ocean's Twelve," because it included George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, amongst others. Some country music fans won't listen to The Dixie Chicks anymore because of their negative comments toward the president.

When do we say when with celebrities? Should one statement make that much of a difference? Should we truly care about their personality away from the screen? Should their political or religious views matter? When is it time to say, "You know what, I'm not going to pay attention to them anymore, because I'd only be showing them support"?

If one statement is going to do it, then, we might as well not watch any film or television, listen to any music, or read any books or magazines, because believe it or not, everyone has made a stupid statement that you're not going to agree with. I've even looked back on some statements I've made in the past and thought to myself (not out loud, of course), "Why in Zeus' name did you say that?" While I don't agree with Cruise on most of what he talks about, especially pertaining to Scientology, I simply see him as a star and not a hero. While I didn't appreciate what Mel Gibson said the other day, again, the guy is simply human and I'm not going to completely ignore his films from here on out. I'm not even a big fan of Russell Crowe's attitude and personality away from the screen, but he's a good actor, and I appreciate him for that and that only.

I think our culture tends to be a bit on the obsessive side with celebrities. We hold them up to a higher standard than most (for whatever reason), so when they blurt out something ridiculous or do something idiotic, that once high standard is automatically lowered to that of a next-door neighbor, and some don't like that, so we may decide to listen to another's music or watch another's films. Perhaps it's because many see these Hollywood celebrities as pretty people and when they do something illegal or immoral, their image alters in our minds and they become less beautiful and less easy to look at.

My problem with all this is the fact if you look deeply enough into a person, any person, there's probably going to be something about them you don't like or agree with. This is true of celebrities, neighbors, teachers, bosses, friends, family, pretty much any and everyone. Yet, that doesn't give us any reason to stop talking to and associating ourselves with these people. The stars of the world, we don't even know. If we can look past the imperfections of our friends and family, why in the world must we stop watching a film because a star in the flick said something Bush-like in an interview?

To me, it all depends upon if the work of art interests me. If Ann Coulter stars in a film that directly reflects her column-writing, ranting, and plagiarizing, I mean, authoring of books, then I won't go see that movie. Why? I would have no interest in it. I have yet to see a Tom Cruise film that rants on and on about Scientology. If there were such a film, I wouldn't see it, because again, I would not be interested in it. I'm not too big on epic-war type films. Does that mean I hold anything against the actors in the film? No. The subject just doesn't tickle my fancy. That's what it should be all about, in my mind. If we are interested in a particular CD, television program, movie, or book, then we should check it out. Nevermind a political statement the lead singer, actor, or director said. Stars are merely like our next-door neighbors. Only, these neighbors constantly have cameras staring right at them, so unlike us and our silly commentary that gets talked about between our friends and family, their comments get talked about nationwide.