My wife doesn't know this, but ever since I saw the movie "Speed" in 1994 I've had the hots for Sandra Bullock. (If my wife can have McDreamy, I can have Miss Congeniality.) Yes. The movie was barely tolerable. And, while I'm comfortable enough in my (apparent) manhood to admit Keanu Reeves is a pretty good looking guy, he's arguably the worst actor of his generation. But, hey, Speed began my 16 year-old crush on Sandra. What can I say, I'm faithful. (You get where I'm going with this, right?)
McDreamy Miss Congeniality
How do I love thee, my dear Sandra? Let me count the ways: She's a fairly attractive young lady. More than that, she's downright quirky (again, Miss Congeniality was the perfect role for my beloved) – which only adds to her charm. And she’s bubbly. The website IMDb claims that her high school classmates voted her "Most likely to brighten up your day." Indeed, Sandra’s been brightening all of my days for the last 16 years.
So, back in 2005, when I heard Sandra was going to marry Jesse James I experienced a bit of cognitive dissonance. What was my dear, sweet, innocent Sandra
doing with this guy – a former bodyguard of heavy metal bands? She should marry someone much more like … well … me. I hoped this wasn’t another case of the good girl going after the bad boy.
But then it happened. The whole thing is sad. I mean, Michelle “Bombshell” McGee?!? C’mon, dude. And then I start thinking about their children and how difficult it must be for them to see their daddy’s infidelity play out on the public stage.
Then I start to wonder why we care so much. You can’t go to the supermarket checkout lines without being bombarded with the current Hollywood gossip, which now is the imminent divorce of Sandra and Jesse. Apparently, in the United States, 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. So, why are we so scandalized when famous couples have marital problems?
I admit that it is easy to become fascinated with the lives of famous people. Reading those supermarket magazines can become intoxicating. But I wish that wasn’t the case. I wish our culture could keep the personal lives of famous people, well, personal. I fear that our cultural habit of gossiping about famous people cannot be controlled. That habit spills into our personal lives, as we gossip about family members, friends, and neighbors. I also fear that spending so much of our time and psychic energy on gossiping about other people distracts us from the more important things in our lives.
I’m reminded of an example of this in an interview the Associate Press had with the Dalai Lama. When asked what he thought of Tiger Woods’ recent infidelity, the insightful Lama replied, “Tiger who?” I think there’s great wisdom in that question for all of us.
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