What It's Like to Meet a Celebrity
In 2008, my husband and I moved to New York City and I pursued acting. I also went there pursuing meaning and purpose. And the truth. I grew up outside the entertainment industry, but hugely influenced by it. I watched movies, gabbed about my celebrity crushes, and dreamed about being an actor myself.
But, well...WHY?
In one of my favorite movies, Jerry Maguire, a football player (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is asking his sports agent, Jerry (Tom Cruise), about the single mother Jerry's dating. He explains to Jerry, "First of all, single mothers don't date. They've been to the puppet show and they've seen the strings."
I had those words in my head when we decided to go to New York. I knew what it was like to go to the puppet show, to belong to a movie-and-tv-obsessed culture. But I was tired of just being influenced; I wanted to understand what was behind it all. I wanted to "see the strings", understand the gears of the industry. I was also looking for my calling in life.
So we went to New York, and I pursued acting.
While there, I did some work as a background actor (extra) on t.v. shows, commercials, and one movie. Sometimes, well-known actors would be on set.
And the first time I saw a celebrity in person? Here's what I thought: "They're not as big as I thought they would be." Some switch in my brain went from off to on when I realized that movie stars look like normal people. They aren't 9 feet tall and surrounded by golden light, after all!
I was on the set of the film The Adjustment Bureau and I summoned the courage to go and shake Matt Damon's hand and tell him that it was a privilege working with him--and it was. He seemed very professional and personable. But he also turned out to be human--his hand had skin on it and we were almost the same height.
I can't be alone here. We can all pretend to be adults, but really, who is it that you've always wanted to meet? What if you saw them on the street today? And they actually stopped and struck up conversation with you? What would you want from them? And if they had to step away to use the restroom, would you be reminding yourself, "Oh, right! They are just a person!"
Why do we keep making new celebrities? What do we want from them? What are we, as a culture, trying to get?
Here's the quick list I came up with this morning:
Beauty
I was on the set of an HBO t.v. series, and those makeup artists were like a race car pit crew, with fanny packs stuffed full of gear, standing at the ready to jump in every couple minutes between takes for touch-ups. No wonder it's so hard to look like a movie star--you'd have to hire a team to follow you around all day!
Perfection
When celebrities make human mistakes, it's big news. But would we gossip about our sister the way we gossip about the humans on the magazine covers?
Belonging
I was at Starbucks this morning, and one of their chalkboard advertisements used a reference from The Hunger Games. I didn't buy a bag of Tribute blend beans, but I did text my husband and say that for date night tonight, we should go see that movie. I don't want to feel left out!
Connection & Relationship
When I was single and wanting to be married, I'd watch a chick flick the way other girls ate ice cream. For two blissful hours, I would fall in love with a man, and, thanks to close up shots and a skilled actor acting vulnerable, he would fall in love with me. But when the movie was over, I felt even more alone than before.
Meaning & Purpose
When an onscreen hero overcomes the odds to discover a life bigger than himself, I feel like I am right there with him, like my life suddenly has meaning and purpose, too. And then the credits roll, and the house lights come up on reality. Then what?
Maybe celebrities and movies aren't all bad, I just get into trouble when I expect them to be something more to me than what they are. I try to suck life from them when they don't have life to offer; they can only point to or away from the source of life. It's like seeing a sign on the highway that says, "Austin 500 Miles" and I am so desperate to be in my home of Austin, Texas that I park my car under that sign and call it Austin. But, in truth, I've still got 500 miles to go.
"Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee." -St. Augustine
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