No Longer A Celebrity

Well, is there a clear cut answer? If we look closely do most celebrities have a "freshness date"?: "Please use every 5 years or dispose of." Let's lift the sanctions that govern this site for a moment, and let's imagine that some celebrities have a purpose--this won't hurt, I promise. When does the celebrity get stripped of his or her title and become a regular Joe? Does their claim to fame that lasted for a few years in the 50's hold true in 2003? I say no. Simply because an actor hit it big at one point does not allow them to carry the title to the grave.

Let's take Robert Blake. Is he a celebrity? At one point, maybe 50 years ago. The only reason, and let me make this perfectly clear, the only reason he is even anywhere near a reporter is because he murdered his wife. Plain and simple. His career ended when Baretta flickered off the air. To call him a celebrity in this day and age is like saying Little Nicky (Adam Sandler) was a good movie. It simply isn't true.

Bobby Brown, can he still be considered a "pop star"? When is the last time he not only released an album, but stepped one foot into a recording studio? Fetching coffee for his wife does not count, sorry. Once again, as with Blake, the only reason Brown is in the news is due to his brush with the law.

What it boils down to is that we cannot allow these stragglers to hang onto their, albeit loose, grasp of a status that no longer applies. I'm not just talking to the movie going public, this message is also directed to you Mr. De Niro, Mr. Hanks, Mr. James Earl Jones, and you too Miss Berry. Make it your business, your civic duty, to weed out the foul stench of celebrity death.

If these so-called celebrities wanted to keep their freshness date updated they should have signed-on to the Hollywood Squares. How do you think Whoopie Goldberg stays in the limelight?