Fame intrigues people. More importantly, famous people intrigue people. The Onion takes an interesting perspecive on this facet of our society.
With a thick slice of cheese, Dolf Lundgren is described as a man with a disease. This disease is called fame. It tells a tale of how Mr. Lungren found this disease and how he's come to terms with his affliction. Most importatnly, it tells about who this man was before fame came into his life.
Who knew that Dolph wasn't his real name? Who knew that the man was well on his way to becoming an incredible scientist with an education from the Royal Academy of Technology, the University of Washington, The University of Sydney with a Masters of Chemical Engineering, and MIT? Who knew that this accented actor has an IQ of 160? Who knew that this man not only looked good, but was smart and was a real person to boot?
I found it interesting that the article made a point to mention that the general public didn't seem to care about what lay beyond the actor persona. "It didn't help that the public never understood the complications of his fame," [Chazz] Palminteri said. "They didn't care that a normal life was at stake." They were content to perpetuate this fame disease.
It was only when Mr. Lundgren took part in a series of B-movies that his fame waned. The article portends that this was a calculated move in effort to regain his private, normal life back. It seems to have worked too.
Most people don't seem to realize what fame costs celebrities. They don't see the real person behind that fame. I know few actors, and celebrities in general, who get into their field to be famous. They're just trying to make a living doing what they love to do, just like the rest of us "normal" types. Most famous people want to be treated like "normal" types too. They want to go to the grocery and the mall and to the zoo just like the rest of us.
I give this article a 4 out of 5 stars.
Posted by dustbuffalo at August 27, 2004 04:31 PM