A bit old; but worth the read
To view the remainder of his last column, go to Ben Stein's Last Column
--Oyarsa
Ben Stein's Last Column by ( 02/10/2005 )
Ben Stein is an economist, author, actor, commentator...and obviously much more.
For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column for the on line Website called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column will be worth a few minutes of your time.
Ben Stein's Last Column
How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?
I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end. It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it.
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?
posted by Oyarsa | 8:44 PM
2 Comments:
Ben Stein use to have a TV game show... don't know if he still does. Called "Take Ben's Stein's money" or something like that. Maybe someone can correct that. At any rate, he is a commentator and a comedian.
The article is right on... it is important to realize who is really important. And the self-important "super-stars" of the elite Holywood crowd are not so important in my book.
I really don't care what Jane Fonda says at this point. She has had her hey-day. We know what Barbara Striesand thinks. And we know that most holywood elite want nothing more than to increase their fan base and to fatten their checkbooks while receiving accolades for their superiority. Please.
Want to know what would make more of a powerful impact... makes some of these bold claims right before their FIRST big movie is released! Imagine the Dixie Chicks (who offended their large fan base) had started each of their early performances with the same non-sense as they said after everyone was ga-ga over them. They would have never been big.
Had Barbara Striesand said the same things she sais NOW right before (let's say) FUNNY GIRL was first released, the American public would have avoided her from the get go (if that was one of her first movies... I am not sure).
Get the idea? If these Holywood elite want to say these very "trendy things" about life and how capitalism is the root of all our evils and how Marxism is the only way that can help us out of our woes, then have the courage to state those positions early and often in their careers.
Can you imagine Barbara saying (in one of her early concerts with that AMAZING voice), "You are a bunch of pigs that are trying to prop up a capitlaist Singer whose only desire is to make millions off my singing voice. If you had any intelligence, you would leave my capitalistic perfomance and embrace the politics of the "people": Marxism." That said at enough concerts, and Barbara Striesand would not be known today.
Or so it seems to me....
Nice blog.
JJ Miller
Thanks! It's a real pleasure to receive such a detailed comment.
That's the first time I've heard about any TV game show in relation to Stein...it might be off the air, but who knows?
Sadly, those hollywood elites aren't stupid enough to spout their liberal nonsense until after they have a fan base that will justify what they say.
They won't repeat the Dixie Chicks mistake if they can help it; as much as we might wish otherwise....
Hope to see you around!
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