I have my favorite celebrities: movie actors whom I particularly enjoy, some leaders in Science and Industry. Otherwise I don’t have the Celebrity Bug the way some folks do. Sometimes people come to me with the latest Scandal about So-and-So and I let them talk, but honestly, I’d prefer not to know. I have the peculiar notion the just because I enjoy someone’s work that does not give me a license to invade his private life. Silly notion in “this day and age.” Such an attitude would also destroy an entire (parasitic) industry: Star Watching.
Was OJ Simpson guilty? I have no idea, and neither do you. He did not receive a fair trial because the entire nation was in that court room and the media had already talked it over way too much. (There are other issues there, legal and otherwise, in that particular case, I won’t get in to it here.)
Do I vote the way Johnny Depp does? No, neither should you, except as that it might also be your choice. I am, unfortunately, of the opinion that Celebrities should never voice their political views, not in this culture at least, this Star Doting Culture: they carry too much weight and that destroys the “one person – one vote” concept. If you vote the way some Star does – simply for that reason – then you just gave him a 2nd vote and threw away your own.
Do I wear shoes endorsed by the Latest Sports Super Star? Absolutely not. Shoes are shoes; they keep me from stepping on rocks, and prevent people from looking at me funny when I go bare-foot. More to the point, such “Star Shoes” cost several times as much as a good quality, foot healthy shoe has to cost, and there’s no guarantee such shoes are actually foot-healthy.
You may argue that that’s what movie stars and other celebrities want! They became celebrities so they could stand in the lime light. Sometimes. However, I have heard that Mr Brad Pitt (for instance) sometimes (maybe still? Maybe not still…) lives in New Orleans and is at peace there because the people around him treat him simply as a member of the community, “just the guy down the street.” I am glad for him. He’s a brilliant actor and I always enjoy his work; that doesn’t give me license to invade his life, worry over who he’s married to Today, and so on, any more than I’d want others invading my life without permission.
“Stars” wield a tremendous power over a great many people. Some are aware of that; some are not. Some abuse that position; some do not. Short version: just because they are “famous” (which only means their name is often used to fill column inches) does not mean they know any thing more or less than I do, than you do. They’re still Human Beings, entitled to privacy, tolerance, love, privacy, forgiveness and… privacy. Did I say privacy yet?
Enjoy the person’s work — leave his life alone. That’s only fair.