Contributed by Louie Tacker

OSCAR night being behind us now, I find myself reflecting on just what the wild rage is all about.

Why do we - as a society in general - throw ourselves at their feet, worship, adore, praise and honor them, when time after time they, the ‘modern day movie stars’ snub their noses at their adoring public?

I for one, couldn’t care less for them or their unsolicited views on life and politics. Very few ‘modern day movies’ peak my interest. I find very few ‘young stars’ worthy of my viewing time and money. Most of the pure actors are now in their declining years and so are the vintage movies they made.

I cannot understand society’s consumption of how they live, what they do with their personal lives, how much they spend on elaborate vacations, etc. But at least the ‘old time stars’ had some class and dignity to their fans. Very rarely did you hear them preach politics, social issues and values.

Nowadays, we cannot pick up a paper and watch television without hearing some movie star, sports star, TV star, or other celebrity giving us advice about politics, life values or how we should conserve energy - which truly, is a good cause - but yet they turn around afterwards and fly private jets, own two, three, four or  more lavish homes, multiple luxury cars, boats and probably use more oil, gas and energy in one day than the average person would in a year. They even tell us who we should vote for and what our political policies should be. These people do not live in our world. Their income level automatically makes them detached from the general public who amazingly still look up to them like they were gods.

I wonder, if I must be that strange as not to care about what these ’stars’ think, say or do outside their work. But are they not mere attractive people who recite lines that are written for them? And this makes them special? Political experts? I think not.

They are just actors who never stop acting even when the cameras have stopped rolling and there are no more scripts to be read. They smile at us, wave to the cameras, sign some autographs… then put their noses up and GO OFF TO THEIR PRIVILEGED LIFE STYLES THAT WE HAVE AFFORDED THEM WITH OUR MONEY AND SUPPORT.

Now, I am not saying that we should not enjoy movies, TV, sports and what not. But maybe we just have to try to keep it in proper and better perspective. Maybe we must start to look around and look at the real ’stars’ in our lives. These are the doctors, workers, rescue workers, soldiers and so many more who devote and risk their lives everyday for our safety and benefit so we can live our lives better.

The average person who works hard everyday pays taxes to support the world we live in - maybe we should thank them for what they do everyday. And most importantly, let us look inside ourselves, see what is missing, do more for ourselves and our families, enjoy our own lives and find hobbies. It is time we start thinking for ourselves not based on what some ’stars’ tell us.

Sidelight: We can do a lot to make our lives more meaningful. We can do this by reaching out to others who may need attention, care and compassion. We can go to a hospital or nursing home and spend some time with someone who may have no one in their lives and see how good that will make us feel. I myself go to the local veterans hospital once a year and thank the men and women for the sacrifice they have made for me… Indeed, there is much more to life than just the ‘empty stars’ so many of us adore…