Today’s thought briefly touches on the origins and processes of how ‘crushes’ or infatuations are developed. Do you have a crush on a celebrity? Well most of us do, in fact I haven’t met one person yet who hasn’t had a past or current ‘crush’ or infatuation on or with a certain celebrity, actor or actress. Recently, I was watching an Anne Hathaway movie with my husband and I couldn’t help but empathize and feel for his disappointment towards the actress; as we watched her in a role that was very unlike her ‘usual’ role. You see, my husband has this sweet and innocent teenage-like ‘crush’ on her and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I noticed his discontentment and disapproving reactions of dislike towards the usual ‘goody-goody’ role that Ms. Hathaway plays. It was interesting to watch his ‘girl next door’ fantasy of her dissipate as we watched her play a confused teenager with serious issues of loneliness, heartache, and desperately needing to belong to something bigger than her ‘dysfunctional’ family.
Responses of similar disappointment of expectations made me wonder, “What truly gives any of us a right (as the audience) to expect to watch certain actors/actresses in their usual ‘comfort zone’ roles?” Do we have a right to expect certain roles from certain actors/actresses or are we expected to be pushed beyond our own comfort zones as these individuals take on different, inspiring, and ever-evolving roles to test their own abilities? I wonder if celebrities such as actors and actresses should only be viewed as ‘instruments’ of a role, perception, or emotion for each of us or is it only natural for us humans to organize these individuals in our minds to fulfill our more innate thoughts, wishes, dreams, actions and desires? There may be a danger and disconnect in wanting these people’s real life selves and their personalities to be similar to their acting roles. Lots to think about today!