Culture Boner

A bit of an uncouth title, I know...I blame Kat Dennings.

Don't know who that is? GOOGLE IT.

Which brings me to my next point. One of the perks of city life? Running into celebrities. In a big, cultural center like New York City, its easy to run into people you recognize from TV, the movies, or internet. I've got a few friends in the city right now, fellow students in fact, and while enjoying the instant classic that is The Book of Mormon, they ran into more than a handful of recognizable celebrities (I think I'm right in naming Joey Gray, Robin Williams, and most of the cast of Modern Family. Cool right? I mean, that's why you come to the big city, isn't it?

Actually, if I may I'd like to dispute that point. Now, I don't mean to chastise anyone for star-chasing or enjoying seeing some of there favorite stars in person, but I do think that we as a society are obsessed with Star Power. Again, let me back track and say the nice thing is most of our celebrities are renowned for their skill. LeBron James is an incredible player, who from my observation continues to work on his game. Peyton Manning is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. Robert Downey Jr. is a fantastic actor who's done a good job of cleaning up his private life.

But we also have our Paris Hiltons, our Heidi and Spencers, and the immaculate Charlie Sheen, who's only talent is putting that much coke up his nose and still being alive (And again, I'm officially on a list). Sometimes celebrities have their renown for reasons unbeknownst to those among us who are sane. And the balance between legitimate celebrities and these faux-celebs always seems to be at a dangerous impasse. The solution? A smarter public.

I went to see Denzel Washington last year in the revival of August Wilson's "Fences". Now, I love Denzel. He is without a doubt one of the finest actors working in the film industry today. But I fell in love with Fences when I read it as a freshmen in my beginning acting class, and what excited me most about the play was watching a good actor tell a compelling story. Denzel did not disappoint, but my fellow audience members did. They gasped when it was revealed that Troy had a love child, clearly showing (IMO) that very few of the audience members had bothered to read the play before coming to see it. Now, here many people will propose a counter-argument: "I wanted to go into the play not knowing anything about it, so that I wouldn't have any expectations." OK, fair point. I did the same thing with Next to Normal. But then I raise you this questions: How many people went to see a play about race relations and the struggles of poor black folks during the 50s, and how many went to say they saw Denzel Washington perform live? How many people asked themselves "Why revive this play? And why did it win the Pulitzer?"

Now I have to also admit: at 21 years old, I am far from a culture buff. I've been playing catch-up ever since I got to college, and I'm a far cry from the ideal standard-bearer for this cause. But at the same time, I don't think it's wrong for me to ask why as a society we have such a hard on for people like Charlie Sheen and the Cast of Jersey Shore, or even skilled actors like Denzel Washington, instead of a desire to learn something about the struggle of human existence?

If I could have one wish, I'd wish for more wishes.

Then, with one of those wishes, I would wish that as a society we would come together and embrace the beauty of story telling. Art is about a depiction of the human condition, not the medium through which it is depicted. I would want us all to walk around trying to hide our raging culture boners. But hey, what do I know. These are just the aimless ramblings of a street rat.