"Kevin Bacon has daydreamed about walking through life as a regular, nonfamous person... A person who could stroll the Earth for a day without being asked for a selfie by a stranger.... Then Bacon realized he could test out his fantasy by donning a disguise... Bacon put on his normal-person camouflage and tested it at one of the most densely populated locations in Los Angeles: an outdoor shopping mall called The Grove..."
At the Grove, Bacon recalls, “People were kind of pushing past me, not being nice. Nobody said, ‘I love you.’ I had to wait in line to, I don’t know, buy a fucking coffee or whatever. I was like, This sucks. I want to go back to being famous.”
Possibly the most American thing ever? So much of this country is utterly useless but still expects everything to be handed to them on a silver platter, with extra ketchup of course.
ReplyDeleteI disagree Joe Broker, I think most Americans don't want to be treated special but vehemently want to be treated fairly, and react badly when they feel they're not.
ReplyDeletexoxoxoBruce
So he discovered the benefits of privilege. It is honest of him to admit that he likes these benefits.
ReplyDeleteThe next step, of course, is to realize most people do not have that privilege, and to show empathy by doing something simple as not jumping in line at the coffee counter.
I work in a place where a lot of people grew up in great financial privilege. I will never stop saying that everybody should do a couple of months of unskilled physical labor to understand what their privilege is.
So parents: stop going bankrupt by sending your kids to camp all vacation. Tell them to go work for their next phone and send them off to the nearest farm or warehouse*. Trust me, they will learn more than in SAT/church/science/art camp.
* No, working in pa or ma's office or volunteering does not count. They need to learn how long one needs to work to get a new iphone together making minimum wage in a shitty job.
Totally agree, from my personal experience:
Deletehttps://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2010/04/redemptive-power-of-menial-labor.html
From a conversation between Barack Obama and Jerry Seinfeld (in the latter's Comedians in Cars series):
ReplyDeleteBO: That moment when you lost your anonymity…
JS: Mmm-hmm
BO: …and anonymity is not somethin' you think about as being valuable.
JS: With all due respect…
BO: Yeah?
JS: I remember very well not being famous.
BO: You think it was OK.
JS: It wasn't that great.
BO: Yeah?
JS: It was…
BO: You think, you think being famous is better.
JS: [spreads hands wide]
BO: Yes?
JS: Yeah.
Of course, neither man is Taylor Swift/Michael Jackson/BTS/Beatles famous.
DeleteDoes this posting count towards "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon"?
ReplyDelete