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In article ,
"Christopher Helms"  wrote:


>
> Tom Jefferson wrote in message ...
>>Ben Stein's Last Column...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column for the online
>>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.
>>
>>
>>
>>Ben Stein's Last Column...
>>
>>
>>============================================
>>
>>
>>How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?
>>
>>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. 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. 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.
>
>
>
> I'll be the first to admit that there are celebrities who probably would be
> living in dumpsters or working the counter at Taco Bell if they were
> compensated only for their talent, but Mr. Stein of all people should be
> among the first to realize that if some record label or movie company is
> willing to pay a 17 year old airhead with a pretty face 10 million dollars
> to do this or that then that's what the market will bear. It's an admittedly
> annoying aspect of capitalism that Mr. Stein (a conservative economics wonk
> who used to write speeches for Nixon) should be used to. I suspect it grates
> on him a little because he actually worked for his money. At least the money
> he didn't make appearing in movies or commercials, unless he thinks spraying
> the sand off a beach ball is hard work.
>
> Ben Steins problem is that he's an old school, classical conservative. Which
> is actually very cool. There's not a damn thing wrong with conservatism the
> way it was practiced until about the Nixon era. The problem is that
> conservatism today is something radically different than it was when Ben
> Stein adopted it. It had libertarian aspects and was based in common sense.
> It was "square" but it wasn't run by creepy, untrustworthy,
power-hungry
> pinheads like it is today. You didn't have to like it but there was no
> reason to fear it either. Eisenhower didn't scare the hell out of people.
> Dubya does.
>

Christopher, I think you nailed it totally.

I actually liked the fact that he did manage to see the veneer of
'celebrity' was fairly cheap and thin - that's a rarity considering where he
lives and the circles he's moved in for so long.

A nice introspective article - it was a breath of fresh air - and that is
something there needs to be much more of in this hollow culture.

Deb.


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