The mystique

The mystique.
It is something the big stars used to have. Great actors like Al Pacino, Robert Deniro, Meryl Streep. Great tv stars like Johnny Carson and singers like Elvis. They rarely gave interviews or were the subject of profiles on shows like 60 minutes. You knew their work. You knew their characters. You saw their stage show. But you didn't really know them. And you didn't need to. And you shouldn't want to.
It was about their work and you loved their work. They were the work. What they did in their private lives was of no concern to you.
I don't want to know who the big stars are dating, who they are married to, what kind of kinky sex they like or don't like. I don't want to know where they go on vacation. What schools their kids go to. Where they live. It is not important. They are entertainers. I want them to entertain me. Anything that makes them more average only detracts from that. The publicity machine they use these days to sell a movie or tv show only detracts from the actual project. I want to believe that the actor is the character they are portraying. I don't want to identify with them as real people. I know they are real people, but that isn't important to me.
That is their personal business, and not mine. I am paying them to be someone else and convince me that is worth watching. Maybe at the end of their careers, when they don't work anymore, then I will get to know them. But not before.
I don't care. Not now and not ever. To me, reality tv is the least entertaining thing that has ever happened to entertainment. I liked Gene Simmons and Ozzie Osbourne a lot more when they were the persona I saw in their stage show act. I don't want to see them at home dealing with life. It is boring and unimportant to me.
The reason The Sopranos worked was because we got to see the Mafia boss deal with everyday life. That was a nice contrast. But a mafia boss is not a megastar. It is interesting to see that part of his character. It is detracting to see it from an actual performer who must be the image he must be to sell me the entertainment package I pay for.
Take away the mystique and you take away the entertainment for me. And increasingly, that is happening more and more.