Quit your whining already!

By Jane Muhlstein

As many of you may not have realized, if the ratings released Tuesday are to be trusted, Sunday night was Oscar night. The stars shimmered brightly as they floated down the red carpet, ready for the elation and disappointments of the awards extravaganza.

The Academy Awards are essentially my version of the Super Bowl, the all-star game of the entertainment world. But this year, I had an epiphany during my annual Oscar-watching ritual. I'm probably a little late in coming to this conclusion, but how absurd and ridiculous are celebrities' lives?

Chris Rock, this year's host, obviously had a little toning down to do in making his material appropriate for his Hollywood audience and early Sunday night time slot.

Given his central role in Hollywood's biggest night, one topic seemed like it would be fair game -- Hollywood.

Rock gave it a valiant effort. But members of his over-botoxed, oversexed, overexposed audience took themselves a bit too seriously.

When Rock suggested Jude Law may not be as big a celebrity as Tom Cruise (and who can argue with that?), Sean Penn got up to assert his respect for Law's thespian talents, saying, very disapprovingly, that he just didn't get Rock's humor. Apparently joking about someone's celebrity status during a stand-up comedy routine is, unlike Penn's penchant for physical assault, a very reprehensible act.

I'm just getting tired of celebrities rejecting the attention they beg for as soon as someone says something they don't like. Celebrities make a choice to whore themselves out to be in the Hollywood limelight. They make a choice to earn $20 million for three months of work.

When someone like Ben Affleck or Renee Zellweger is interviewed, they often complain of the media attention they receive. It's as if there were never movie stars before they came famous or as if they had never seen anyone's privacy invaded on newsstands before it happened to them.

The celebrity lifestyle, like the Oscars, has very little to do with the art of acting. Many actors have no interest in notoriety, and, therefore avoid the A-list lifestyle.

A person who has a passion for their craft without the desire to be an international star chooses the off-Broadway circuit or the independent film industry.

A person who wants fame chooses to be a movie star.

* Contact Jane Muhlstein at (408) 554-4546 or jmuhlstein@scu.edu.