Upon my recent stint in Los Angeles, I had got to thinking about celebrities, due to the fact that LA is basically their haven. I thought about fame and its uniqueness. These days the paparazzi ram people with their cars just to get a picture, and many think that things are getting out of hand. Dirt on celebrities is just so in demand that it boggles the mind, but should we care?

In what follows, I’m going to focus on those in the entertainment industry, but in theory, this analysis can be applied to pretty much anyone whose occupation has them in the public eye and brings them fame. Hidden in that last sentence is the crux of the point which I find revealing about this situation – it’s the actors’ occupation that causes their fame.

But let me take a step back. Let’s start general and move towards the specific case of becoming an actor. Imagine that you are deciding what occupation is right for you. A bunch of different ideas might cross your mind. Each of these occupations has certain pros and cons that anyone considering an occupation should know right off the bat.

Here are a few examples. If you are considering becoming a brain surgeon, you know that a strong stomach is required, as blood and cutting open people’s heads is a part of the job. If you are considering becoming a college professor, you know that you will be spending a great deal of time in either a lab or an office doing research. If you are considering becoming a NYC taxi driver, you know that you will have to get used to people cutting you off, cursing at you, and giving you “the finger” on a regular basis. These are all difficult parts of the job, but they cannot be avoided, and you would know that going in.

Now, let’s say that you are considering becoming an actor. As with any other profession, there are some things about acting that you know right off the bat. First, you know that if you become and A-list actor, you will be filthy rich. Second, you know that it takes a great deal of willpower to avoid going off the deep end in terms of excessive partying and drug use. Third, you know that if you make it big, you will be in the public eye, and your fans will want to know everything about your life.

My point is this: when you decide to become an actor, just as when you decide to choose any profession, you have some idea of what you’re getting into. Unless you live in a bubble, you can watch the news or read the newspapers and see how the paparazzi and fans constantly hound celebrities. Sure, it sucks, but it’s part of the job. You would only become an actor anyway despite this if you love to act and/or find the prospect of making rather good money to outweigh the negatives such as your inevitable lack of privacy.

When these actors demand that their privacy be respected, I would analogize this to a college professor demanding that s/he does not have to do any research – it’s a part of the job. Being an actor is just another profession, and like any profession, it has some negative aspects. It seems to me like these actors want to have their cake and eat it too. Yet, as we all know, there is no such thing as a profession that does not have some drawbacks. One of the largest ones for an actor is his/her lack of privacy.

That’s not to say that someone could, in theory, imagine a society where no one cares about the personal lives of those in the entertainment industry. But I would argue that surely no such society could ever be one made up of humans. One of the entire objectives for actors is to have audiences like them. If an actor has no charisma or intrigue, then s/he probably won’t have much of a career. But due to this charisma and intrigue, people feel like they know you, or would like to know you. For most people who have a favorite actor, I would be willing to bet that these people would like very much if this actor was one of their friends. As a result, it’s simply human nature to wonder what’s going on in these actors’ lives, since they are people who we like or find interesting.

Due to this fact, it is pretty unreasonable for those in the entertainment industry to complain about a lack of privacy. Now, don’t get me wrong, there should still be limits. Clearly, those who want to learn about what’s going on in an actor’s private lives must do so within the limits of the law. Ramming anyone with a car, including an actor, is illegal, and thus, should remain illegal. Breaking into anyone’s house, including an actor’s, is illegal, and thus, should remain illegal. However, accosting someone and asking them a question, or snapping a picture of them as they’re leaving a restaurant is not illegal, thus it should not be prevented for actors either.

So there you have it: actors need to suck it up! Sure, having people hiding in bushes to take pictures of you is probably quite annoying, but living in a $10 million estate in the hills of Malibu isn’t. Sure, people running up to you and trying to get you to sign a photograph of yourself probably gets really old, but getting into any club you want without having to be on any “list” isn’t. While it might seem tragic to some that poor Brad and Angelina can’t live their lives without having people following them to Africa to take pictures of them, I highly doubt that there are many people out there who would hesitate trading his/her life for Brad’s or Angelina’s. If Bradsky wanted to have privacy, he should have been a plumber, not one of the most famous actors in the world.

Is anyone really buying this Tom and Katie thing?

Yeah, weird topic – I know. You might not even know where I’m going with this, but hopefully by explaining a short story, you will.

What is now nearly a month ago, I was in LA (where I am flying to, once again, right now). For the weekend, I was in a rather upscale hotel in Westwood. This is the kind of hotel that rich and famous people stay at, and were seen at even while I was there. So one day, I wandered out to the pool. The pool there was unbelievable, but I digress. What I saw there, though I have heard of before, stupefied me: I had never actually seen in real life.

At this pool there were a couple guys who had something going for them. Maybe they were rockstars (my guess – they had the look, but I didn’t recognize them), or maybe they were just filthy rich kids. But they had a slew of gorgeous women with them, fawning over them. For example, there was one guy there who was making out with two different women. I mean, you hear all about this time all the time, but I had never really seen it in real life.

And it got me thinking. What the hell is up with that? I mean, I just don’t get it. I don’t get it from either side of the equation. On one hand, you have the women. And it’s easy to condemn their actions. You can say things like: “Don’t they have any self respect?” “Do they really believe that the guy will eventually come around and be all theirs?” “Is there self-esteem so low that they wouldn’t rather have a less famous guy who might really love them?” But a deeper problem persists.

By acting in this way, these women objectify all women. Now, don’t get me wrong; the media does this all the time. And it’s terrible when they do. But as individuals, unless you’re David Geffen or Michael Eisner, then you don’t have a whole lot of control over what the media does. But you do have a certain degree of control over what you do. By appearing in such a way that all you are is an object for sex, you not only hurt yourself, but you hurt all women. Indeed, there is also a certain amount of incredulousness that one has when watching something on TV or in a movie, but when s/he sees it in real life, one cannot help but conclude that it must really be this way. So by acting in this way, you validate the media’s incorrect and harmful portrayal of women.

Of course, I cannot blame the women entirely. If the man involved has any dignity, then he too wouldn’t allow this to happen. If this man has any self-respect, then he would treat women respectfully as well; he would treat them as people instead of objects. While his testosterone might steer him toward the idea of two girls at once being fun, his respect for women should supersede things. Maybe he doesn’t have a sister, but surely he has a mother. Would he want her treated this way?

I guess one could chalk it all up to a lack of thought. Maybe these people never thought about what they were really doing, but just relied entirely upon animal lust. And sure, that may be true, but I think that even people who aren’t particularly bright have some emotional core to direct them into situations when they do and do not feel respected. I simply cannot believe that when those girls look into the mirror in the morning, they see confident and emotionally-healthy young women. And how can this guy look at his mother, or any other woman he has ever respected?

Sure there’s some argument out there that says that these people have free will and ought to be able to do whatever they want. I couldn’t agree more. If this is really what they want, then so be it. I just refuse to believe that, deep down, this is what anyone wants. And mind you – this is much different than something like an open marriage even. This is a situation where no one values or respects you as a person, but only views you as an object. At least in an open marriage, in theory your spouse does value and respect you, but sees sexual relations as irrelevant to that. In the situation I speak of, there isn’t any respect.

Okay, I’m gonna turn my rant off now. I suspect that I’m preaching mostly to the choir, but this really bothers me. I see more and more young women of today acting in ways that do not respect themselves, and put women back 100 years. And to make matters worse, I see young men loving it. I’m not sure where our society went wrong here. It’s easy to blame it on the media, and they certainly deserve some of the blame. But I think people really need to think more about the consequences of their actions, and what those actions mean for everyone, not just themselves. Are they being perceived the way they really want to be perceived when behaving in this way? I just don’t believe this could be possible.

What would you rather lick: a seat in the NYC subway or a seat in a NYC cab?

Well, I’m finally back from LA – for the time being anyway. Actually, that isn’t entirely true, at least not yet. I’m on a plane, as usual. Circumstances are slightly better than my last trip back to NY from LA, however. That is, if slightly means infinitely. But this has nothing to do with today’s topic of “Medical Marijuana.”

The reason I think Medical Marijuana would make an interesting topic is mostly due to the fact that it’s very timely. As you may have read last week, the Supreme Court recently declared that states did not have the right to make Medical Marijuana legal. Thus, it is no longer legal anywhere in the U.S., as federal law prohibits it.

Before continuing, let me explain my stance on marijuana in general, as this will help the reader to understand any bias I might have in either direction: I dislike marijuana. I do not smoke marijuana; I have never smoked marijuana; I never will smoke marijuana. The reason for this has little to do with the fact that it’s illegal, but more to do with health and philosophical issues that I have with drugs. Drugs like marijuana simply aren’t good for your body. Because I value my health and physical fitness, using drugs such as marijuana would be in direct conflict with an aspect of my life that I find very important. Moreover, I do not like my mind to become something other than that which is wholly mine. I do not want a strange drug to alter my mind to the extent that I do not have full control. This is also the reason that I do not like drinking in excess.

I also hold no naïve beliefs that drugs like marijuana ought to be legalized. Although I tend to have fairly libertarian beliefs, I have written in the past about why drugs ought to remain illegal, even under the libertarian view. I think that marijuana does harm people in tangible and intangible ways, as medical evidence and personal observation have shown me. Thus, I have no sympathy for marijuana.

So you know where this is going. I was delighted when they made medical marijuana illegal. I think that my first reaction was probably a laugh, as it amuses me to think about all of the potheads around the country who were seriously distraught at the realization that they may have to go back to obtaining their marijuana illegally again.

There are a couple of different kinds of criticisms that one might have to the decision of the Supreme Court deciding that Medical Marijuana should be illegal. One is to criticize their reasoning. Yet, this is kind of futile, since it’s grounded on decades upon decades of Constitutional Law, which has much to say on the usage of the Commerce Clause, that which was responsible for the ruling. Another criticism is simply to lament, because you believe that all drugs should be made illegal. As mentioned earlier, I have already addressed this in the past, and would rather not rehash that here. Thus, I would like to continue by addressing the third and final criticism: what about the people that claim that marijuana is the only thing that can help them?

Who are these mysterious people? Whose body pain responds only to a mind-altering drug and not other pain killers? Can yon please document the medical evidence that provides marijuana with this magic chemical and how it works to stop the pain in such a way that other, legal drugs cannot? If so, surely there is a brilliant doctor out there who can extract this chemical from marijuana, disable its side effect of altering one’s mind in the way that only an illegal drug can, and package it in a safe pill form. But none of this has happened.

None of this has happened, I suspect, because it’s all a joke. Marijuana has no magical healing powers. It’s just more pleasant for people in great pain to be high than it is to face life. Well guess what – getting high is illegal. While some may call this therapeutic, I call it breaking the law. If you want something to dull the pain, then take a pain killer; don’t pretend that marijuana is the only drug that can help your pain, because it doesn’t. It merely masks it because it puts you in a drug-induced state.

I actually wasn’t too hard on Medical Marijuana until recently. It wasn’t log ago that I came to learn just how badly many people were abusing this as a prescription drug. It turns out that if you have money to throw around and a doctor with questionable ethics, it’s pretty easy to get as much Medical Marijuana as you want – your insurance might even cover it. Just tell Dr. Sketchy that you get headaches, and he’ll write you out a prescription for cannabis.

This, I think, is the main reason why I’m rather pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision. While I took a hard line two paragraphs ago in regard to those who smoked Medical Marijuana because they actually do have serious pain and are terminally ill, I really don’t care so much about their usage of it. If you’re really that sick, then get a little high – I don’t really care. What bothers me most about Medical Marijuana is that it’s turned into a loophole for the wealthy who like to hit the bong from time to time, like every few hours. The rich aren’t supposed to be above the law, and Medical Marijuana causes them to be. While the poor have to buy it on the streets, the rich can go to Dr. Sketchy, and avoid the sticky situations that the poor might encounter – like the police. But in reality, everyone should have to face the same consequences when they decide to engage in illicit drug use.

All in all, I have no sympathy for anyone lamenting over Marijuana being made illegal. Some people call it a harmless drug, but surely those people don’t know the people I have known who have smoked marijuana only as a precursor to going onto harder stuff like Heroin or Cocaine. They also must not know the people I have known who never do anything but sit around the house and smoke pot – too burnt out to do even important and simplistic activities, like attend one of their best friend’s birthday party.

I’m not saying that smoking marijuana is the worst thing that anyone can ever do, but it just annoys me when people try to pretend that it’s harmless, because it isn’t. Anyone who is reliant upon marijuana or any other drug to be the highlight of their day or week needs to re-examine their life. Life can be very fun and exiting without drugs. I like to believe that my life is pretty strong proof of that. So the next time you get a headache, put down the bong and take an aspirin, because now it’s illegal if you don’t.

Do you ever wonder how it is that some people can live with themselves while ignoring the apparent, though masked, motives of those around them?