By Neena Strichart, Publisher
When I was a girl, I was in love with going to the movies. So was my friend Becky. On the weekends we would try to talk our parents into driving us to the Crest, Towne or Rivoli Theatres–or, if they were unavailable, or unwilling, we took advantage of our trusty bus company. I remember our trying to get in to see “Woodstock” at a downtown movie house–we were refused because we were too young. Ironically, we had recently been allowed in to see adult-themed films such as “Not With My Wife You Don’t!” “Up the Down Staircase” and “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.” We didn’t understand the contradictions–but chalked it up to adults being weird.
Back then we couldn’t learn about our favorite stars from tabloids–instead we relied on movie magazines like Photoplay. They were so very tame compared to today’s standards. We also lacked television reporting of movie-type gossip. The only real television gossip I remember was reporting by a woman named Rona Barrett. Ooh, I thought she was so lucky to be in on the happenings of the movie stars–however I recall thinking she was a bit mean.
Nowadays we are bombarded with the most intimate details of the lives of television and movie stars–not to mention polititians and sports figures. It sickens me to see how much our society seems to thrive on the personal tragedies of others. Do we eat it up because it is what we are fed or are we fed the info because it is what we crave? Chicken or egg? Nature or nurture?
Do the celebrities themselves see negative publicity as better than no publicity? Do they feel indestructible, above the law, or have some just been so sheltered and catered to that they cannot make rational and logical decisions for themselves?
Our younger generation may believe that the deterioration and self-destruction of those idolized is unique to this place in time. Mel Gibson, Paris, Anna Nicole and Lindsay Lohan seem to be disintegrating before them. Truth be told, none of this is new. Our immediate access to celebrities’ personal information is what is new. Radio, television, newspapers, magazines, internet, reality-shows show the younger generation’s idols crumbling before them. Nothing is off-limits or taboo anymore.
Alas, my generation and the ones before watched their idols fall. Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, James Dean, Judy Garland, George Reeves (TV’s Superman) and countless others were also victims of their own success. Is there anything to be done to change this phenomenon? It’s easy to say the friends and family members of these celebrities should be more involved in trying to save the lives of these famous disasters. Easier said than done. Those who exploit in order to gain will always follow the vulnerable.
