An Explanation of Celebrity Appeal

Upon further reflection, my teleplay from Friday was pretty mean.  While I do think the ending is funny, I don't know if it was worth making fun of people I don't know.  I know that I'm not alone in my distaste for celebrities, but that doesn't give me the right to ridicule people simply for being famous.  I think my opinion stems from how I see so many people obsessed with celebrities and I never understood why.

Until now.  Watch this video:

In the video above, actress Emma Stone joins talk show host Jimmy Fallon for a "Lip Sync Battle."  I think I've seen Miss Stone in two or three movies and I've never thought about her outside of those times.  But here, she loses herself in a silly game and looks like she's have a blast making a fool of herself.

And that's what draws people to celebrities, especially performers.  They have a certain kind of self-confidence where they can do ridiculous things and not care (or at least, not appear not to care) what anyone thinks.  We all have a an inner-censor, stopping us from making fools of ourselves.  Performers train themselves to ignore that censor so that they can do their work.  From the outside, we see them as bold, confident, and fun people.  Many people envy that.  Some go so far as follow the personal lives of famous people in tabloids and gossip magazines.

I am not saying that I want to join in the celebrity-worshiping or even that I condone it, because I don't.  But, for the first time, I understand the appeal.

(And even though he won't ever read it, I apologize to Tom Cruise for callously making light of his religious beliefs.)