LA Deli » BaleGate: Double standards in Hollywood

BaleGate: Double standards in Hollywood

July 27th, 2008

I'm going to take a moment from talking about hot slut infested tranny hos and look at something actually kind of interesting about this celebrity bullshit - the whole Christian Bale affair has highlighted the way we perceive celebrities and how the true people behind the name can be very different from the way we imagine them.

Fame is an interesting a complicated component in our society, and celebrity culture has reached its most saturative point ever. In a world where Britney Spears takes a dump and we are supposed to care, we all assumed that we now knew every major stars everyday lives, but this is not so.

On sites like this, generally the cheap remarks and thick jokes are directed against one kind of celebrity - the tabloid star. These are people whom actively seek celebrity and fame rather than are known for a talent. There are few exceptions who seem to crossover into the rags (Jennifer Garner, Angelina Jolie) but they are usually hitting tabloids for life choices (high profile husbands) rather than actual wrong-doing.

Lindsay Lohan is an example of the tabloid star. Once known for her bright acting career, now known for her bad attitude, drug addictions and party animal antics. She had talent, but squandered it ungraciously to instead lead a reckless lifestyle and thrive off of the media attention associated. The public still see her as vapid, attention-seeking and shallow.

We judge in this way because her life is completely transparent, she chooses to live it in front of camera lenses in trendy Hollywood spots then claims she doesn't enjoy the paparazzi. Lindsay Lohan might be a lovely person, but as far as the public is concerned, she is not, and we are confident in that assessment because of the overwhelming transparency of her life. Being a promiscuous bisexual woman doesn't help in a world where women and gay men are your audience.

Christian Bale, on the other hand, is a serious actor. Respected in his field and known to the world as a method actor who has intense dedication, fantastic performances and clever career choices. He is seen as sexy, mysterious and interesting. But why?

Simple. He isn't open about his life to the press, and doesn't actively seek out the paparazzi. He lives his life away from cameras and so we have nothing to fill in the gaps of what we know about him, and so as we do with many talented performers in their field, we assume the best based upon our lust for looks and our respect for their abilities.

But now with the eruption around Bale allegedly assaulting his own female family members, we have a very long but very telling report from his ex assistant and fan club owner which reveals Bale to be dark, troubled, insecure and angry.

What has been interesting in the whole situation is that immediately the blame for the incident fell firmly on his mother and sister rather than Bale himself. The world would not accept that the golden boy of the record breaking new Batman movie could stoop so low as possible assault on his own mother.

It was justified by claims that his sister and mother were drug addicts looking for money, something which quickly was exposed as most likely untrue. But something stuck, as now the story is that Bales' sister was looking for £100,000 to support her family. The assistant account seems to back up that fact, but casts Bales mother in a more positive light than his father, painting her as a woman looking out for her daughters best interests.

Quickly, the accounts of the event have been reduced in severity, now people claim it was merely a shouting match. Did a witness account just appear out of thin air? There is no source for those claims. It's either PR spin or the media refraining from potential law headaches in the future.

Justifications. Excuses. Vilification. Support for Bale is unwavering, purely because people enjoy his acting, find him attractive or like his movies, and also because he has a billion dollar corporation behind him who need their star to be selling a movie, not damaging its potential.

His mother and sister whom could have been severely battered for all the general public know are now living as villains in the story, and all because they didn't have that pre-existing public favour. Call me crazy, but if Brody Jenner was involved in the same situation i doubt strongly that the public would be rallying support and the media making puffy excuses.

We don't have to complain about this double standard media world, but we just have to recognize that tabloids stars are getting and will continue to get a very different treatment from that of celebrities who are famous for what they do and not whom they are. So the next time you laugh at me pointing fun at a broke weave or a tranny infested hooker sperm, just remember that behind every golden girl or boy in Hollywood a real person lies - and occasionally lies.