Will Shares

The Self-Manufacture of Megan Fox - NYTimes.com

I liked this because it talks about how Megan Fox sort of invented a public persona and then presented it. It makes me wonder how many celebrities do this. So much of what is claimed to be reality - whether it’s reality shows or celebrities lives should increasingly be viewed as yet another attempt to entertain, imho.

Jon Gosselin Scripted Hailey Glassman's Abuse Claims : LimeLife

Jon actually made the decision to have Hailey go on air and bad mouth him. Jon and Hailey get paid for their appearances on these shows and they need the money. It was easy for Hailey to conjure tears, their lives are less than stellar right now, but Jon hasn’t abused [her].” It actually kind of makes sense, as the source continued, “Jon doesn’t have much money left and he is not currently searching for a real job. Jon still seeks money through his fame and notoriety. He really wants a reality show of his own, and he is stretching out every moment of the drama for a dollar … His whole team heard of the project and was involved in brokering the possible deal … His managers, lawyers and publicists need to get something rolling for him or he won’t be able to pay them. Jon doesn’t have a big bank account loaded with money. He has to do something and this would have been funny, plus Hailey had no problem going along with the fake dates and pretending to be upset. She is along for the ride and enjoys being on TV.”

Getting so disugsted with the Gosselins….and yet I keep reading….

Glenn Close: Mental Illness: The Stigma of Silence

Glenn Close on her character, Alex Forrest, in Fatal Attraction :

Alex Forrest is considered by most people to be evil incarnate. People still come up to me saying how much she terrified them. Yet in my research into her behavior, I only ended up empathizing with her. She was a human being in great psychological pain who definitely needed meds. I consulted with several psychiatrists to better understand the “whys” of what she did and learned that she was far more dangerous to herself than to others. The original ending of Fatal Attraction actually had Alex commit suicide. But that didn’t “test” well. Alex had terrified the audiences and they wanted her punished for it. A tortured and self-destructive Alex was too upsetting. She had to be blown away. So, we went back and shot the now famous bathroom scene. A knife was put into Alex’s hand, making her a dangerous psychopath. When the wife shot her in self-defense, the audience was given catharsis through bloodshed — Alex’s blood. And everyone felt safe again. The ending worked. It was thrilling and the movie was a big hit. But it sent a misleading message about the reality of mental illness.

Amazing how much stories that get told by Hollywood become the stories we want to hear, rather than the stories that actually happened…makes me hate Hollywood a bit…

I’m impressed with her charitable work:

Over the last year, I have worked with some visionary groups to start BringChange2Mind.org, an organization that strives to inspire people to start talking openly about mental illness, to break through the silence and fear. We have the support of every major, American mental health organization and numerous others. I have no illusions that BringChange2Mind.org is a cure for mental illness. Yet I am sure it will help us along the road to understanding and constructive dialogue. It will help deconstruct and eliminate stigma. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that by the year 2020 mental illness will be the second leading cause of death and disability. Every society will have to confront the issue. The question is, will we face it with open honesty or silence?