READER FEEDBACK

Uncommon Bonds

Robert Lewis succinctly formulates and supports the hypotheses that we forge counterfeit one-way bonds with movie stars, TV stars, rockstars and pornstars, athletes and poster boys, pinup girls and presidents and anyone else caught in the uni-directional spotlight that shines only on them and never on us, due in part to the quick-fix, no-risk nature of the media as well as a susceptibility that stems from a drought and inertia in our lives.

A closer analysis reveals that starmania is transmitted and sustained by an entire culture, not exclusively television and cinema, and doesn’t favor or discriminate on any grounds, least of all on the basis of intelligence. Most frequently associated with political followers, star-struck groupies and religious devotees, its most ubiquitous sign is blind surrender of one’s critical faculties; its most common symptom – a bunch of very lonesome people doing what they do for those who don’t know them, need them or give a damn. The tragic dénouement of this behavior is the realization that these larger than life fictions are as fragile and flammable as the celluloid to which they were transferred.

But a healthy and legitimate kinship with an actor’s personna can and does occur. As reflective and empathic creatures we delight in the metaphorical lure of theatre and books whose messages mirror life in all its paradox. Splicing the mundane to the absurd, the wicked to the wise, they present flipsides that speak to our inquiring and philosophical nature. Less than that, someday I’ll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me, where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops…that’s where you’ll find me.
by Mark Goldfarb