Saturday, January 22, 2011

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Marilyn Monroe once said she was fighting for the rights of a minority, stars, all they demanded was to be allowed to twinkle.

Is that why they are called **STARS**, because something about them twinkles, grabs our attention with a glow that's hard to resist?

I haven't quite grasped what draws me to particular people of fame, because they are most definitely not all considered 'stars'.  In fact I think my first real affinity for a 'famous' person was actually Anne Frank, reading her diary in junior high started a small obsession with biographies and non-fiction stories. Not typically the kind of story or person that garners a following, but it was the first true story that really captured me, and she had a magnetism I just couldn't explain.


I had the bug then, after exhausting my readings on World War II and the holocaust, I would peruse the biography section, keen on several stories but particularly those with some mystery. That's when I stumbled across two other people that really peaked my interest, Marilyn Monroe and JFK. Again, the early deaths and mystery surrounding them, and a somewhat intertwined story made them even more intriguing. I developed more of a feeling of kinship the more I read about Marilyn though. Obviously there were huge differences in our lives, she had lived and died long before I was even born, but some of what she said just resonated with me.  Like how she often struggled with low self-esteem about her appearance, weight, etc. and yet she is probably still considered one of the most beautiful women ever.  I've had a soft spot for her ever since.


It's strange I would have these fascinations with people born 50-60 years before me, and who have all died, but then again it's never been the fame that's attracted me, it's the real person behind the fame. Which would explain why there have been very few celebrities that have earned my interest in my lifetime.  They shine less and less these days. They live less and less like they are even in the same reality as the rest of the world. Any interest I've had has been mostly superficial (Brad Pitt ;).

Until Heath Ledger that is. Granted, at first glance, the interest was also superficial.  But then, there was this unexplainable quality about him, like those previously mentioned, and I was just drawn to his performances (not always the plots), I would get lost in his character and forget it was him completely. Whether the movie was good or not, I could not lose interest in his portrayals. Then just as my interest was growing exponentially, he died.  Today is actually the 3rd anniversary of his death.



















Now I'm not one of those who becomes more interested just because someone has died, but it is beginning to be a theme with the fame fascinations I have, that they all die young. However, my interest didn't increase with anything that had to do with his death or the mystery surrounding it, it had to do with all the articles that were all written out of other people's interest in his death. I started reading about who he was behind the stage and I grew an even deeper respect for his talents.

It's a strange thing this enthrallment I get. I'm not star struck. I'm not a fanatic.  I'm definitely not a proponent of many of the lifestyle choices of my fame fascinations.  But something about them touched me and moved me. I'm drawn to anything to do with them. I'm sorry they no longer are able to twinkle.

Is there anyone of notoriety that you find yourself inexplicably drawn to?

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