For quite a while I’ve toyed with the idea of inviting people over for dinner?all sorts of people: actors, politicians, musicians, writers, journalists. Realizing this invitation will often fall on deaf ears does not lessen the idea of the invitation. Rather, it adds to the mystery that one day an invitation could be accepted.
I am not famous myself. I am the ordinary version of life?hence the invitation(s). I first started thinking about this silly idea after watching The Bucket List with Morgan Freeman. His portrayal of Carter Chambers was so endearing and appreciated, it reminded me how much a fan I am of his work. My initial reaction after watching it was “wouldn’t it be nice to have him over for supper. He seems like he would be such a nice person.”
This is not the first time I’ve said this about an entertainer. There are many to whom invitations will be sent. They will be discarded as junk mail, or I may even run the risk of being added to a list of nutcases to watch out for, or, the worst, I’ll receive an autographed picture of the invitee signed by an adoring president of his/her fan club. But that doesn’t bother me.
My very imaginative mind giggles with the thought of it actually working. Think of all the entertainers you know that you like. For instance, when Heath Ledger died, I had seen several of his movies, but I didn’t even know the man, yet his passing was personal to me, like I grieved in that distant sort of way that fascinates you and informs you. It was Ledger’s sudden demise that made me rethink how I perceive fame. Here the actors and actresses portray the average individuals’ lives, yet they are anything but average, they’re these luminescent souls that seem to dwell in another version of earth, where reality and realism share traits but are separated from life as we know by a camera. I suppose thinking in these terms motivated this devil-may-care attitude of wanting to meet a few of these celestial beings?get to know them, genuinely, if only for a moment. If I were famous, I would crave that unadulterated moment of the real. But that’s me and maybe that’s part of the reason I am not famous.
Nonetheless, Mr. Freeman, should this article make its way into your life, my family and I cordially invite you over for dinner. Just please call before you come.
