Fame: I'm Gonna Live Forever

Happy New Year!!  Another year and another beginning of the blog with high hopes to actually be much more consistent this year.  Didn't I say that last year?  Regardless, this year will be different (didn't I say that last year, too?).

Now, onto the blog entry and why I titled it as such.

Fame and celebrity usually go hand in hand.  Sometimes for good and sometimes not.  Over the weekend, I witnessed fame in all its glory and yet, I discovered that sometimes even famous people aren't that famous.

First of all, my family and I went to Disneyland to celebrate the mother-in-law's birthday.  We were there for twelve hours and had a blast.  Even little Abigail enjoyed her time sleeping and eating and every now and then looking around at all the bright colors.

But that's not the point of this blog.  The point is celebrities.  While wandering around California Adventure (we got the park hopper pass), we happened to see Rick Fox.  For those of you that don't know him from anything other than Dancing With the Stars, that's sad.  He was also a popular basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers.  The funny thing was that had we not noticed one person amongst his group, we may not have even noticed that he was there. 

You see, when certain celebrities come to Disneyland, they can ask for an "escort" - a Cast Member that guides the celebrity and their group around the park and gets them "front of the line" access to any ride which they wish to go on.  The "escort" also plays a part in keeping most of the "little people" from pestering the celebrity while they are enjoyin the park.  In the past, Joanna and I have seen these "escorts" with other celebrities.  Our most famous, before this, was seeing Teri Hatcher and her daughter, ironically at California Adventure also.  So, because we saw this Cast Member, we knew there was a celebrity close by.  With a few slight glances, we saw Rick Fox.  He was tall and with several friends and possibly family, including his current girlfriend, Eliza Dusku.  They then went through the exit of the Toy Story ride and were gone. 

There you have it.  One example of how being famous can be a good thing - you get on all the rides at Disneyland or California Adventure just by walking in.  And now, a secondary example of how being a celebrity can be a good thing, but with a different twist on good.

As we were preparing to leave Disneyland in the evening, we needed to get rid of some Fast Passes - it's something we choose to do and Joanna likes to pass them out to people that would more than likely use them.  We had two passes left for Indiana Jones and Joanna spotted a couple and handed them over, receiving a "thank you" in return.  As I watched her choose the couple and then approach them, I noticed that the guy looked like a celebrity.  Now, I'm not going to say which one just in case it wasn't him, but after I mentioned it to Joanna and showed her a picture, she was fairly certain that it was indeed him. 

Whether or not it was him doesn't matter in the scheme of things.  If it was, he was a celebrity out with his girlfriend and having a great time at Disneyland.  He didn't need the escort.  He didn't need to go to the front of the line.  He was simply having fun and was genuinely grateful to be offered the free Fast Passes.  Do you think we could have done that for Rick Fox?  No.  As a "celebrity" with an "escort", he didn't need the Fast Pass.  It's possible that Rick Fox could have attempted Disneyland without an "escort" but he might have been inundated with people wanting to talk to him. 

In summary (what is this, an essay?  Maybe.), being a celebrity doesn't always mean you have it all.  Rick Fox was able to have an "escort" around California Adventure with hopes of having fun with his family and friends.  This other celebrity is someone on television and relatively famous if you know the show, and yet, he probably had just as good a time waiting in lines and doing whatever he wanted.  So, does fame and celebrity really equal a good thing?  Yes and no.  Good for people to recognize you and admire you, but bad because you're constantly having to deal with people, unable to enjoy a good time with family or friends.


Until next time.