Marilyn Monroe once said, “They'll give you five-thousand dollars for a kiss, but only fifty cents for your soul.” In Hollywood today, it seems to be popular demand that actors, teen idols, and public icons must be subject to much invasion of privacy. Tabloids and paparazzi flock the lives of these people, flooding true and false stories to the general public to make a living. The point to be made here, and the terrible truth to be revealed, is that many Hollywood icons welcome this attention. In my opinion, Britney Spears would not allow slandering information about her Rehab experiences, her failed marriages, or especially her children to be splashed through living rooms across America. A mother allowing her children to be used as publicity sounds like she has only one motive…money. Although, there are others that give hope to the acting profession.
Johnny Depp is a man true to his own art. He is a man who does not allow himself to be paraded about other than his true colors. He does not hide away his feelings for the sake of being politically correct. He does not allow the society to corrupt him into being the man, father, husband, or star that Hollywood demands. For example, when he does an interview for Rolling Stone, a magazine that focuses mainly on music, movies, and the people behind them, he does not spend hours on end posing in different outfits and expressing his emotional range by glaring with sadness or donning a face that doesn't show exactly what he feels at that exact moment. In every one of his issues, it is made clear in the article that he shows up, takes his picture, and has a conversation with the reporter more than an interview. Other artists, like Billie Joe Armstrong, the front-man of the punk-rocking Green Day, or Kiefer Sutherland, the star of Fox's terrorist drama “24,” take pictures that always have a look that isn't trustworthy or believable. Looking at it is like looking at a character. It does not feel real. Johnny Depp refuses to be anyone but himself and hopes his fan will love him for it. If not, I doubt he uses much sleep.
The children of the new century have the wool pulled deep over their eyes, believing that becoming skeletally thin makes women acceptable to society or that all rich, young men must be unhappy and rebellious to the point if two inch rims of black makeup around their eyes, or are convinced by countless advertisements and billboards that Bud Light makes you pretty. All in all, we don concealing masks in order to fit in with all those that wear the expensive concealing masks. Since most children also believe bonding with and listening to their parents is also “un-cool” in the eyes of their peers, the least they can do is find a model that has no mask. Johnny Depp has no mask other than his face.
Depp has created an image that our children should consider following. He is in fact the most modest actor in the business and looked upon as a hero for his extraordinary talent as an actor, writer, and musician. But, the fact that he is modest about it makes him a kind of rebel. He goes against the majority and the grain by having a little thing called manners. It's funny how only last decade having manners and modesty was not the kind of idol that teens had. Children of the nineties looked up to the likes of Kurt Cobain, the lead guitar player of the grunge band Nirvana. His early and untimely death left him with an immortal image of an angry young man that hated corporations and governments and didn't care for much of anyone. But today, the greatest hero is a man who chooses to show respect to his fans and workmates. When did respect become part of rebellion? Better yet, when did punk rock teens find respect impressive and not the way of the nerds?
Bob Dylan once said, “The times, they are a changin',” in 1963. I find it sad that it took almost fifty years for anyone to come to terms with that. Who better than Johnny Depp.
