Resisting Celebrity Status, (rather than complaining about it)

SAME STORY, DIFFERENT VERSE. This time the affronted party is star Hollywood type Ben Affleck. It seems that big Ben is outraged by the intrusive behavior of, yes, you guessed it, the glittering paparazzi. It would seem they, the camera mongers, are approaching a bit too closely when stealing the image of Ben's adorable children. And you certainly can't blame Ben for being a bit upset about that. You can, however, blame him for complaining about it, but not doing anything about it. Sure, he tries to give his kids a normal, quiet life. But he maintians for himself the life of a celebrity, and does nothing to resist it, or change it. Thus, his kids are guilty, or victims, by association. Anybody who hangs out with Ben Affleck is gonna draw some attention too, eh? It may be hard to trade millions of dollars and world wide fame for a low pay job teaching acting at some remote junior college, but, it can be done. Ben went to Harvard, he can surely think his way through this. Voluntary anonymity, its the only way to go. Said Ben the other day "my kids are not celebrities". Earth to Ben; neither you nor your kids have the power to determine whether they are celebrities; that's entirely up to society in general. Sad, but true. Nobody among us can make that decision. The world always has the power to barge into our private homes, and turn anyone among us into - an instant celebrity. As upright honorable citizens, all we can do is resist...or cooperate with the celeberity making world. Ben, if you don't like it, fight back! Start using your mother's madien surname, dye your hair, move to the middle of Montana, and look for an opening in a high school theatre department. Fame is fleeting, unless you actively pursue it. But it is a powerful, intoxicating allure, and hard to let go.