God-Actor Syndrome

Why does the media always go to actors for their opinion? Why is it that the same actors are always recast for the same roles?

We are fed a constant narrative of famous actors giving their take on current affairs and it's often given lots of gravitas. An example would be when Sacha Baron-Cohen recently made his hollywood debut and seems to be doing everything he can to prove to them that he is 'one of them' including calling out the president on multiple occasions. This is totally fine, it's his right, but why do the media care?  Why does anyone care about the opinion of just some guy who's job it is to pretend to be someone else.

I postulate that, the answer lies within the human condition. Afterall we are just monkeys. We are not evolved to be able to tell when we are watching a film. What our eyes see is true to our monkey brains. So, while on the surface we may 'know' it's just a film, deep down we fail to detach the characters from the film with the actors themselves.

To me this explains why actors seem to have risen to the top of society and are so readily idolized by the general population. This also in some way explains type-casting when actors are literally cast to play 'them-selves'. To some degree I believe the actors start to think they are their characters. The result of this syndrome is exacerbated when the actor plays a heroic character. They can be seen to believe they are on some elevated plane. Just take Captain Marvel for example from the Marvel universe, depicted by Brie Larson. I don't know if you've ever seen Brie Larson in an interview but boy, is she horrible. She seems to believe she was chosen by God himself... oh wait no that would be misogynist. She seems to believe that for whatever reason (ideologically sold her sole to get a role in hollywood) everything she says is fact and cannot be disputed. Let me tell you, nothing she says is fact and most of the time is just wrong.

What I would like you to take away from this is, don't idolize actors! They are people like the rest of us and, like the rest of us, they too are just making it up as they go along. In fact, don't idolize anyone. People are far from perfect. If you have to, imagine the best version of yourself, and idolize them. That way you might move ever closer to achieving your full potential.

Stay safe,

BasilBasedPesto