BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
Where does Celebrity end and Humanity begins?
If you pay attention to tabloids, entertainment news, or enjoy watching people make asses of themselves then you’re hip to what recently happened with Reece Witherspoon. She and her guy were pulled over. She seemed a little “out of it” and went off the on the cop for pulling them over.
She got crazy. She got belligerent. She got uppity. She talked down the cop and was a brat. I get where she’s coming from and I think we all do to be fair. There is a thin line of “authority” that gets abused. Many people in an “authority position” can sometimes come off as if they’re being “high and mighty” about it. Southern justice type crap, mainly. The problem is that there really isn’t any sign that the officer in the Reece Witherspoon video is being overly pushy. He’s calm and is doing his job. Meanwhile she screams, belittles, and has the nerve to push the “Do you know who I am?!” line.
Yes. She said “Do you know who I am?”! The very thing you hear an evil celebrity or evil person of authority blurt out in the third act of a bad Law and Order episode. But let’s jump back a little. I used that word again. “Authority”.
Basically Reece Witherspoon was expressing that since she has been in some really successful movies, the laws shouldn’t apply to her. That makes sense right? I’m pretty sure that’s the premise for Legally Blonde 3, right?
Is there really any difference anymore?
The idea of “Do you know who I am?” isn’t too surprising. It’s a cliché for a reason. It sounds like a horrible line, but the problem is how serious it is. People buy into it. If you’re of someone of high stature you get more rights and special treatment. There is no way around that. Look at all of the celebrity scandals, murder trials, and nonsense. Look at the idea of dirty politicians and the idea of dirty cops. These things suck, but it’s part of our reality.
Shouldn’t we just be open about it? Maybe we should have our income or “value” on our I.D. cards so if something happens we can base our punishment on a sliding scale. Treat it like a co-payment. Maybe make it “the more taxes you pay the more rights you have”. I mean, if someone who is rich is out of work the government gets less tax money than if a poor guy from nowhere is locked up. By that way of thinking, Lindsay Lohan is a more profitable American citizen than an unemployed government aid using Jane Doe with the same or even milder problems. You can bet your ass that Jane Doe is deeper in the system.
It’s a ridiculous thought, but at least it’s honest. I love the American idea of the same rights for everyone. We should vote for who we want, marry who we want, pray how we want, eat what we want, watch what we want, and always strive for constant improvement as much as we want.
The problem is that if you make a few romantic comedies your rights mean more. At least you’ll feel entitled to more.
I don’t hate or even really dislike Reece Witherspoon. It’s just little moments like this expose the craze that celebrity captures. I will go out and buy Legally Blonde 1 AND 2 on Blu-ray if she stands before a judge and says she was only researching a role for an upcoming Lindsay Lohan bio pic.
By the way, I don’t even a Blu-ray player.
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