For years Alec has been telling us he's better than us, that he's unjustly persecuted, that he knows better, now we know that that's all B.S.
Do I expect you to care about the Hilaria kerfuffle? OF COURSE NOT! But there are a lot of lessons to be learned here, and they involve everyone, including you.
The first decade of this century was about fact-checking, revealing the truth. The internet was still small, social media was not mature, but if the mainstream media got it wrong, there was a chorus of correctors online who pointed out the mistake.
But that was back when mainstream media ruled. Now there's a cacophony of "news" sources. And the internet is overrun with so much crap that you can lie in plain sight and get away with it until you don't. Like Donald Trump.
The "New York Times" bought Donald's B.S., believed everything he was saying was true. But after becoming president, reporters dug deeper and discovered a treasure trove of lies, uncovering the fact that Trump was a terrible businessman, who squandered his father's empire whilst ripping off his relatives, paying few taxes and telling us he was not only god's gift to women, but god's gift to the world.
But then the truth came out.
This is not about people who believe in conspiracy theories, this is about the United States turning into Canada and the U.K. Canada is a giant high school, everybody knows everybody else, you can't get too uppity in the Great White North. The U.K. has a long tradition of building people up and then tearing them down. Because really, are these "stars" any better than us?
Well, in the U.K. there's a heavy class system. Without the American Dream. As in born to poverty, live in poverty. Of course there are exceptions, but people know their place. No one knows their place in America, it's open season, your dream can become true...only the odds of that are better in Canada and overseas, despite citizens of our broken country believing otherwise. You can read it in the "Wall Street Journal," but facts are now secondary to beliefs, it's beliefs that keep this country going, because if you concentrate on reality, it's too scary, you can see that the income gap keeps widening and it's almost unbridgeable.
Which is why those with money, who are intelligent, stay silent.
But today's billionaires didn't inherit the money, most of them earned it. And were working so hard that they're unaware of their own blind spots. They believe they're perfect deities, when odds are they're less complete than those on the street. Sure, Elon Musk might have pushed forward Tesla, but everyone now agrees he's positively crazy. Steve Jobs had a reputation as a tyrant, but no one thought he was living on Pluto, disconnected from reality.
So, we've got a cadre of boasting billionaires who are just ripe for denigration.
Meanwhile, the entertainment business has always been built on quicksand, truth is anathema. The film didn't gross what they say it did nor did the gig sell out. But, people believe what you tell them, and mainstream media doesn't have enough cash to pursue the truth in these minor league avenues. But if you rise above, beware of the public, the proletariat, the people who've been subjected to your lies forever.
Bottom line, in the early days of the internet you could not get away with lying. Now, the odds of escaping are higher. But if someone decides to investigate...
Hilaria Baldwin wasn't born in Mallorca, she grew up privileged speaking English, but now she has a Spanish accent and doesn't know the word for "cucumber" in English: bit.ly/3o1xFcl If she stayed home and shut up, no one would care. But she built an entire career on myths. We were subjected to her antics. Turns out she's no better than the rest of us. Maybe more highly educated, but truly just another girl from Boston.
As for Alec himself, turns out his real name is ALEXANDER!
Hothead Alec constantly corrects people, with intensity, when they call him "Alex" instead of "Alec." BUT THE TRUTH IS HE'S ALEX!
Baldwin has been getting away with this charade until...his wife, trading on his fame, took it too far. If she'd stayed home, or had been honest, the truth never would have come out. Yes, I believe "Alec" Baldwin is intelligent, he's great on Howard Stern, but I no longer believe everything he says. It's always somebody else's fault, Kim Basinger, the person on the street, but now we know it's him. Hilaria and Alec could have come clean, admitted the truth and moved on, but they're still obfuscating and Alec is still defending his wife, doesn't he realize HE'S LOSING ALL CREDIBILITY!
But the Baldwins live in a bubble. Despite "Alec" talking about his hardscrabble upbringing, which is grossly overstated, he's got no idea what's going on in the real world. Sure, he's a good actor, an entertainer, but he needed to be more than that, he needed to be seen as three-dimensional, a public intellectual, ain't that a laugh.
Meanwhile, CAA and a host of entertainment outlets bought into the grift. Because you don't want to alienate a star, you need them to make your money! Imagine if Hilaria was a reporter for the "New York Times"...she'd be fired immediately, her career would be ruined. But the court of public opinion can be just as harsh.
Sure, you can fake it, but don't ask everybody to buy it.
Come on, do you think the people who grew up with "Hilary" accepted her name change and fake accent? They rolled their eyes. Down in the pit where most people live if you lie and act superior, you're ostracized. In ass-kissing Hollywood it's de rigueur, but Tinseltown and its denizens are no longer immune.
Be wary of lying if you're a celebrity. Raise your head high enough and it's going to be chopped off. In addition, none of us are perfect, none of us are free of skeletons in the closet.
Next "Hilary" will lose gigs and cry about it. Bemoan the personal persecution.
Then there's noted racist Mel Gibson...if you can make them money, Hollywood will forgive ANYBODY!
Don't confuse this with the faux pas of the hoi polloi, who lose their jobs after one misstep. These celebrities tend to be loaded and they can always work at the 7-11 or in the boiler room like the rest of us. We made them stars, we can eviscerate their shaky foundations and careers just as easily.
So I enjoy Alex and Hilary being cut down to size. They call it schadenfreude, I'll own it. I know how hard it is to make it. But when you get to the top and you gain further success on falsehoods, it boils my blood. Even worse is the hangers-on, those born on third base, those adjacent to fame. It's just like having rich parents...why should you get ahead of the rest of us in line, what did you do to earn this honor?
Celebrities are also into assets. They gain success and buy a slew of cars and a pad in the hills but...the world is changing, assets are now secondary to your identity, to experiences. To function in the new world, to sustain, you must have credibility, something that cannot be bought but only earned, something that is very fragile, that you can lose instantly. Yes, if you want a long life in today's world, credibility is key. As for those going with the flow, the idiots on social media and reality TV...they don't get it, the joke is on them, they're fungible, people are lining up to replace them, credibility is not a factor, which is why their time in the spotlight doesn't last. Yes, we need people to believe in.
Oh, don't give me the exceptions. The point is, if you want to play in the major leagues of life today, your history is going to be investigated, what you said back in high school, what you posted on social media, that's gonna surface. Be prepared. But the truth is, the young 'uns know this. They scrub bad history from the internet. It's only the self-satisfied old, who believe they're entitled to their success, who are out of the loop. Furthermore, in the modern world, it's all about data, the lies of yore won't work in today's economy. The internet is about truth. I know that sounds phony, but when it comes to the big sites...you can buy a few listens, a few views, but you can't make it to a billion. And those who keep telling us they're that successful, we can just go online and find out that they're not.
We should be excoriating the Administration for their screw-ups in rolling out the vaccine. There are so many important issues to be addressed in today's society, many of them truly life and death. But in an era where the president lies and challenges the plain truth that he lost the election, the average citizen feels powerless when it comes to the big issues. But when it comes to the small?
You're just like everybody else. You're no better. And if you want to rise above, have your house in order, because there are millions waiting to tear you down, your life and career are a ticking time bomb, beware!
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