If you are interested in a good, long read, check this out

[ThePresence]

More of a thought piece than a political piece, so I didn't think it belonged in P&N.
Yes, it's long. But I enjoyed it, maybe you will too.

Text

How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?

By Ben Stein

As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started.

Lew Harris, who founded this great site, asked me to do it maybe seven or eight years ago, and I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.

But again, all things must pass, and my column for E! Online must pass. In a way, it is actually the perfect time for it to pass. Lew, whom I have known forever, was impressed that I knew so many stars at Morton's on Monday nights.

He could not get over it, in fact. So, he said I should write a column about the stars I saw at Morton's and what they had to say.

It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars.

I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie.

But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.

Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.

How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model?

Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails. They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer.

A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.

A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.

A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.

We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.

I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.

There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament. The policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive. The orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery. The teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children. The kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.

Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse.

Now you have my idea of a real hero.

Last column, I told you a few of the rules I had learned to keep my sanity. Well, here is a final one to help you keep your sanity and keep you in the running for stardom: We are puny, insignificant creatures.

We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important. God is real, not a fiction, and when we turn over our lives to Him, he takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves.

In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire ourselves as the directors of the movie of our lives and turn the power over to Him.

I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin--or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.

But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life.

I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.

This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.

As so many of you know, I am an avid Bush fan and a Republican. But I think the best guidance I ever got was from the inauguration speech of Democrat John F. Kennedy in January of 1961.

On a very cold and bright day in D.C., he said, "With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth...asking His blessing and His help but knowing that here on Earth, God's work must surely be our own."

And then to paraphrase my favorite president, my boss and friend Richard Nixon, when he left the White House in August 1974, with me standing a few feet away, "This is not goodbye. The French have a word for it--au revoir. We'll see you again."

Au revoir, and thank you for reading me for so long. God bless every one of you. We'll see you again.

 

[TWills]

8/10. Good post Presence

 

[CheesePoofs]

Thats, like, a lot of words. I can't read that many words

 

[myusername]

exceedingly unoriginal and not particularly thought-provoking.

 

[KarenMarie]

that was a pretty good read... thanks for posting it.

 

[JoeKing]

good way to end a column :thumbsup:

 

[Senior Member]

It's a shame we live in a society where one can make a good living writing about socialites, but would have far less success writing about the true heroes. Life sucks, we all know it; I guess most of us retreat to a fantasy world where we can hobknob with the rich and famous via TV. Pretty sick. Thanks for a great post.

 

[ThePresence]

...

 

[Looney]

It was a decent read... certainly nothing original or new. The reason why Hollywood celebrities are 'stars' is because we live in an achievement oriented society... and although their achievements aren't spectacular, in that they're not saving lives or making the world a better place by acting, their accomplishments require them to be the best in their industry. For every rich Hollywood celeb, there are a thousand others that tried and failed. Although the soldier who went to disarm and died instead did something worthy, their achievements really aren't outstanding or difficult. Yes, those firefighters that died in 9/11 could be considered 'heroes', certainly more than Brad Pitt is in my book, but it doesn't take that much skill to be a firefighter.

I do agree society puts celebrities in much too high a pedestal in our society. But i don't blame the celebrities for that, they're just cashing in on a talent that they have... i blame all the people who live vicariously through them. People's whose lives are so mundane, that they would rather focus on others. People's who's own achievements are so limited, that they live them through the success of their basketball teams.

 

[guyver01]

cliffs notes???

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Looney
It was a decent read... certainly nothing original or new. The reason why Hollywood celebrities are 'stars' is because we live in an achievement oriented society... and although their achievements aren't spectacular, in that they're not saving lives or making the world a better place by acting, their accomplishments require them to be the best in their industry. For every rich Hollywood celeb, there are a thousand others that tried and failed. Although the soldier who went to disarm and died instead did something worthy, their achievements really aren't outstanding or difficult. Yes, those firefighters that died in 9/11 could be considered 'heroes', certainly more than Brad Pitt is in my book, but it doesn't take that much skill to be a firefighter.

Why do you say that the achievement of a soldier is not outstanding or difficult? I think it's outstanding and certainly difficult. Far more difficult than reading lines for a camera. Of course not anyone can be a good actor, but that doesn't mean that anyone is a good soldier.

I do agree society puts celebrities in much too high a pedestal in our society. But i don't blame the celebrities for that, they're just cashing in on a talent that they have... i blame all the people who live vicariously through them. People's whose lives are so mundane, that they would rather focus on others. People's who's own achievements are so limited, that they live them through the success of their basketball teams.

I think that was the point of this article. He was not blaming actors for being good at what they do. He was just saying that they are no longer his heros.

 

[Chrono]

please sum it up for the reading challenged

 

[SVT Cobra]

good post :thumbsup:

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Looney
It was a decent read... certainly nothing original or new. The reason why Hollywood celebrities are 'stars' is because we live in an achievement oriented society... and although their achievements aren't spectacular, in that they're not saving lives or making the world a better place by acting, their accomplishments require them to be the best in their industry. For every rich Hollywood celeb, there are a thousand others that tried and failed. Although the soldier who went to disarm and died instead did something worthy, their achievements really aren't outstanding or difficult. Yes, those firefighters that died in 9/11 could be considered 'heroes', certainly more than Brad Pitt is in my book, but it doesn't take that much skill to be a firefighter.

Why do you say that the achievement of a soldier is not outstanding or difficult? I think it's outstanding and certainly difficult. Far more difficult than reading lines for a camera. Of course not anyone can be a good actor, but that doesn't mean that anyone is a good soldier.

Because in order to 'succeed' as a soldier, it's not as difficult as it is to become say Brad Pitt. Sure, there's some training, there's some skills, but it's not as difficult to become a soldier as it is to become a famous actor.

I agree with you, dismantling a live bomb requires much more skill than to simply memorize some lines... but a good actor has to do more than memorize lines... otherwise it would be easy to become an actor that gets paid millions of dollars per movie.

Take a thousand people, and train them for 5 years in dismantling bombs... and i would say you're going to have a good number of those people who successfully become these skilled soldiers. Take a thousand actors and train them for 5 years, how many of them will reach the pinacle of Hollywood?

I think that was the point of this article. He was not blaming actors for being good at what they do. He was just saying that they are no longer his heros.

Yeah i know. I was just giving my opinion as to WHY it's the way it is. I agree with him and you, i think it's absurd how much we idolize these people.

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Looney
It was a decent read... certainly nothing original or new. The reason why Hollywood celebrities are 'stars' is because we live in an achievement oriented society... and although their achievements aren't spectacular, in that they're not saving lives or making the world a better place by acting, their accomplishments require them to be the best in their industry. For every rich Hollywood celeb, there are a thousand others that tried and failed. Although the soldier who went to disarm and died instead did something worthy, their achievements really aren't outstanding or difficult. Yes, those firefighters that died in 9/11 could be considered 'heroes', certainly more than Brad Pitt is in my book, but it doesn't take that much skill to be a firefighter.

Why do you say that the achievement of a soldier is not outstanding or difficult? I think it's outstanding and certainly difficult. Far more difficult than reading lines for a camera. Of course not anyone can be a good actor, but that doesn't mean that anyone is a good soldier.

Because in order to 'succeed' as a soldier, it's not as difficult as it is to become say Brad Pitt. Sure, there's some training, there's some skills, but it's not as difficult to become a soldier as it is to become a famous actor.

I agree with you, dismantling a live bomb requires much more skill than to simply memorize some lines... but a good actor has to do more than memorize lines... otherwise it would be easy to become an actor that gets paid millions of dollars per movie.

Take a thousand people, and train them for 5 years in dismantling bombs... and i would say you're going to have a good number of those people who successfully become these skilled soldiers. Take a thousand actors and train them for 5 years, how many of them will reach the pinacle of Hollywood?

There's much more to being a soldier than the physical activity involved. It's the mental strength in my view that makes it so much harder than being an actor. It's risking your own life to do your country's bidding. It's not easy walking down a street on patrol when you know bullets can come flying your way. It's not easy poking your head around a corner know that someone can be right there waiting for you. Acting for a camera? Sure, not anyone can do that well, but that doesn't take the mental toughness that it takes to be a good soldier either. But I may be biased. I was never an actor, but I was a soldier.

Another point is, I don't know how hard it is to become Brad Pitt. But alot of it is the looks he was born with. He didn't work hard for that, it's his genes. The same goes for many actors and actresses. Sure, they may be good actors too, but they reached the pinnacle of Hollywood because of their looks combined with their acting ability.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Looney
It was a decent read... certainly nothing original or new. The reason why Hollywood celebrities are 'stars' is because we live in an achievement oriented society... and although their achievements aren't spectacular, in that they're not saving lives or making the world a better place by acting, their accomplishments require them to be the best in their industry. For every rich Hollywood celeb, there are a thousand others that tried and failed. Although the soldier who went to disarm and died instead did something worthy, their achievements really aren't outstanding or difficult. Yes, those firefighters that died in 9/11 could be considered 'heroes', certainly more than Brad Pitt is in my book, but it doesn't take that much skill to be a firefighter.

Why do you say that the achievement of a soldier is not outstanding or difficult? I think it's outstanding and certainly difficult. Far more difficult than reading lines for a camera. Of course not anyone can be a good actor, but that doesn't mean that anyone is a good soldier.

Because in order to 'succeed' as a soldier, it's not as difficult as it is to become say Brad Pitt. Sure, there's some training, there's some skills, but it's not as difficult to become a soldier as it is to become a famous actor.

I agree with you, dismantling a live bomb requires much more skill than to simply memorize some lines... but a good actor has to do more than memorize lines... otherwise it would be easy to become an actor that gets paid millions of dollars per movie.

Take a thousand people, and train them for 5 years in dismantling bombs... and i would say you're going to have a good number of those people who successfully become these skilled soldiers. Take a thousand actors and train them for 5 years, how many of them will reach the pinacle of Hollywood?

There's much more to being a soldier than the physical activity involved. It's the mental strength in my view that makes it so much harder than being an actor. It's risking your own life to do your country's bidding. It's not easy walking down a street on patrol when you know bullets can come flying your way. It's not easy poking your head around a corner know that someone can be right there waiting for you. Acting for a camera? Sure, not anyone can do that well, but that doesn't take the mental toughness that it takes to be a good soldier either. But I may be biased. I was never an actor, but I was a soldier.

Dude, i agree with you. But the fact is, it's a lot easier to become a soldier than it is to become a red carpet Hollywood star. Most people who enlist in the military eventually succeed in becoming a soldier. How many people go to Hollywood to become famous, actually become famous?

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Looney
It was a decent read... certainly nothing original or new. The reason why Hollywood celebrities are 'stars' is because we live in an achievement oriented society... and although their achievements aren't spectacular, in that they're not saving lives or making the world a better place by acting, their accomplishments require them to be the best in their industry. For every rich Hollywood celeb, there are a thousand others that tried and failed. Although the soldier who went to disarm and died instead did something worthy, their achievements really aren't outstanding or difficult. Yes, those firefighters that died in 9/11 could be considered 'heroes', certainly more than Brad Pitt is in my book, but it doesn't take that much skill to be a firefighter.

Why do you say that the achievement of a soldier is not outstanding or difficult? I think it's outstanding and certainly difficult. Far more difficult than reading lines for a camera. Of course not anyone can be a good actor, but that doesn't mean that anyone is a good soldier.

Because in order to 'succeed' as a soldier, it's not as difficult as it is to become say Brad Pitt. Sure, there's some training, there's some skills, but it's not as difficult to become a soldier as it is to become a famous actor.

I agree with you, dismantling a live bomb requires much more skill than to simply memorize some lines... but a good actor has to do more than memorize lines... otherwise it would be easy to become an actor that gets paid millions of dollars per movie.

Take a thousand people, and train them for 5 years in dismantling bombs... and i would say you're going to have a good number of those people who successfully become these skilled soldiers. Take a thousand actors and train them for 5 years, how many of them will reach the pinacle of Hollywood?

There's much more to being a soldier than the physical activity involved. It's the mental strength in my view that makes it so much harder than being an actor. It's risking your own life to do your country's bidding. It's not easy walking down a street on patrol when you know bullets can come flying your way. It's not easy poking your head around a corner know that someone can be right there waiting for you. Acting for a camera? Sure, not anyone can do that well, but that doesn't take the mental toughness that it takes to be a good soldier either. But I may be biased. I was never an actor, but I was a soldier.

Dude, i agree with you. But the fact is, it's a lot easier to become a soldier than it is to become a red carpet Hollywood star. Most people who enlist in the military eventually succeed in becoming a soldier. How many people go to Hollywood to become famous, actually become famous?

There are plently of good-looking celebrities that would be nothing without their good looks. Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Pam Anderson, etc. etc. How hard did they work for those genes? Now I realize that alot of good looking actors are also good actors. But they certainly did not have to work as hard as someone who does not look as good.

 

[David Brent]

with His help someone will go forth and make cliff notes.

 

[Trente]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Looney
It was a decent read... certainly nothing original or new. The reason why Hollywood celebrities are 'stars' is because we live in an achievement oriented society... and although their achievements aren't spectacular, in that they're not saving lives or making the world a better place by acting, their accomplishments require them to be the best in their industry. For every rich Hollywood celeb, there are a thousand others that tried and failed. Although the soldier who went to disarm and died instead did something worthy, their achievements really aren't outstanding or difficult. Yes, those firefighters that died in 9/11 could be considered 'heroes', certainly more than Brad Pitt is in my book, but it doesn't take that much skill to be a firefighter.

Why do you say that the achievement of a soldier is not outstanding or difficult? I think it's outstanding and certainly difficult. Far more difficult than reading lines for a camera. Of course not anyone can be a good actor, but that doesn't mean that anyone is a good soldier.

Because in order to 'succeed' as a soldier, it's not as difficult as it is to become say Brad Pitt. Sure, there's some training, there's some skills, but it's not as difficult to become a soldier as it is to become a famous actor.

I agree with you, dismantling a live bomb requires much more skill than to simply memorize some lines... but a good actor has to do more than memorize lines... otherwise it would be easy to become an actor that gets paid millions of dollars per movie.

Take a thousand people, and train them for 5 years in dismantling bombs... and i would say you're going to have a good number of those people who successfully become these skilled soldiers. Take a thousand actors and train them for 5 years, how many of them will reach the pinacle of Hollywood?

There's much more to being a soldier than the physical activity involved. It's the mental strength in my view that makes it so much harder than being an actor. It's risking your own life to do your country's bidding. It's not easy walking down a street on patrol when you know bullets can come flying your way. It's not easy poking your head around a corner know that someone can be right there waiting for you. Acting for a camera? Sure, not anyone can do that well, but that doesn't take the mental toughness that it takes to be a good soldier either. But I may be biased. I was never an actor, but I was a soldier.

Another point is, I don't know how hard it is to become Brad Pitt. But alot of it is the looks he was born with. He didn't work hard for that, it's his genes. The same goes for many actors and actresses. Sure, they may be good actors too, but they reached the pinnacle of Hollywood because of their looks combined with their acting ability.

:thumbsup:

 

[myusername]

Cliffs notes: Ben Stein, after years of writing a column on celebrities, writes his final column, in which he states that writing columns about celebrities is vapid, since celebrities never get killed by Islamic middle-easterners. Also, he thinks George W. is the best thing since sliced bread. He makes no mention of his lineage, or whether that would have any bearing on his opinion.

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: myusername
Cliffs notes: Ben Stein, after years of writing a column on celebrities, writes his final column, in which he states that writing columns about celebrities is vapid, since celebrities never get killed by Islamic middle-easterners. Also, he thinks George W. is the best thing since sliced bread. He makes no mention of his lineage, or whether that would have any bearing on his opinion.

He mentions GWB once, one line, and that's what you got out of the article. That's thought provoking in itself.

CLIFF NOTES: Read the article.

 

[ThePresence]

Final bump.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: Looney

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Looney
It was a decent read... certainly nothing original or new. The reason why Hollywood celebrities are 'stars' is because we live in an achievement oriented society... and although their achievements aren't spectacular, in that they're not saving lives or making the world a better place by acting, their accomplishments require them to be the best in their industry. For every rich Hollywood celeb, there are a thousand others that tried and failed. Although the soldier who went to disarm and died instead did something worthy, their achievements really aren't outstanding or difficult. Yes, those firefighters that died in 9/11 could be considered 'heroes', certainly more than Brad Pitt is in my book, but it doesn't take that much skill to be a firefighter.

Why do you say that the achievement of a soldier is not outstanding or difficult? I think it's outstanding and certainly difficult. Far more difficult than reading lines for a camera. Of course not anyone can be a good actor, but that doesn't mean that anyone is a good soldier.

Because in order to 'succeed' as a soldier, it's not as difficult as it is to become say Brad Pitt. Sure, there's some training, there's some skills, but it's not as difficult to become a soldier as it is to become a famous actor.

I agree with you, dismantling a live bomb requires much more skill than to simply memorize some lines... but a good actor has to do more than memorize lines... otherwise it would be easy to become an actor that gets paid millions of dollars per movie.

Take a thousand people, and train them for 5 years in dismantling bombs... and i would say you're going to have a good number of those people who successfully become these skilled soldiers. Take a thousand actors and train them for 5 years, how many of them will reach the pinacle of Hollywood?

I think that was the point of this article. He was not blaming actors for being good at what they do. He was just saying that they are no longer his heros.

Yeah i know. I was just giving my opinion as to WHY it's the way it is. I agree with him and you, i think it's absurd how much we idolize these people.

You're comparing apples to oranges there. An equal comparison would be a soldier vs an actor. Brad Pitt vs a navy seal sniper commando ultra badass. Not easy to become both but the soldier actually does something worthwhile for the world and puts his life on the line. I don't see Brad Pitt doing his own stunts

 

[meltdown75]

i enjoyed the read. thanks

 

[Juice Box]

:thumbsup: