Ain't no cure for the Bennifer blues "It's no use. I've tried, over and over, for months now, but I just can't make myself care about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. At least, not as a couple (which the media has dubbed "Bennifer," suggesting some sort of unholy surgical experiment gone horribly awry). "I'm interested in their movie careers. To be honest, I'm only vaguely interested in his -- I like roughly half of the movies he's done, which isn't bad, considering -- and I'm much less interested in hers, since to my knowledge I've never seen or even wanted to see any of her movies. But the current, to-the-minute state of their nuptials has less relevance to my day-to-day life than... well, anything, despite the media's best efforts. I'm surprised CNN didn't embed a reporter into the wedding party to report live from the field. "Why are we (and here I'm using 'we' to mean everybody except me, of course) so fascinated by this stuff? How does it affect your lives? Does hearing about a famous breakup make you feel better about yourself? Does it cheer you up to see a beloved star in a new love affair? Are you fueling your fantasies? Placing bets? What?"
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I don't care about famous people's private lives and I wish other people would not care either. Who needs all these intimate details? It certainly does nothing to enrich my life when I'm too busy worrying about my own problems.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
Word, Chris.
Word.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
In fairness to Jennifer Lopez's movie career, Out of Sight was pretty good. Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
::claps::
Sentence, Chris.
Sentence.
(Ha! A sentence is longer than a word! My praise is bigger!) Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Tom - entirely possible, but it didn't entice me into the theaters or the rental racks. There are plenty of actresses I enjoy in movies whose personal life is, and should be, a complete mystery to me. I have absolutely no idea what Christina Ricci's love life is like, for example.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Yeah, I don't get the whole obsession over Bennifer. You gotta know that if they do get married, it will last about 3.5 seconds. So I guess in that sense its appeal is like that of a train wreck as it's happening. You know they won't last, and part of you wants to see them go ahead and then wallow in media misery, but part of you wants to see them do the right thing, gain half a brain, and decide that their lives are far better off lived in private. Other celebs manage to do it.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
I have great admiration for stars like Johnny Carson, Steve Martin, Harrison Ford, and others who set strict limits on what they will and will not talk about in interviews. I'm also a big fan of Inside the Actor's Studio which focuses on the actor's career instead of their private life, unless it has a direct bearing on their career (like, say, Drew Barrymore).
Posted by Godric (Member # 4587) on :
Yeah, Out of Sight was pretty good and U-Turn was notably odd, but then it was an Oliver Stone film. Maybe Kevin Smith's new "Bennifer" movie will be good...
In any case, preach on Chris!
Posted by Danzig (Member # 4704) on :
Bennifer? We have enough horrible words already, why make more?
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
Am I the only one who didn't hate Angel Eyes? Sure, it was weird, but James Caviezel has a tendency to pick pretty good projects. Have you ever looked at his credits? (I generally forgive an actor their first few films. Hey, they'll do anything to get in the door.)
Anyway, yeah, I never got the hoopla over Jen and Ben. (Bennifer? I'd've gone for Ben Lo.)
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Ben and Jer on the other hand is an entirely different story of things I care about.
Good ice cream relationships should be followed by adoring fans. Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
at the risk of sounding like a girl, I actually enjoyed The Wedding Planner . It wasn't a *good* movie, but it made me smile.
Maid in Manhatten, however....
never again.
oh, and...
Paragraph, Chris.
Paragraph.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Ahem? Trying to upstage me?
Essay, Chris
Essay
I chuckled a little bit at the Wedding Planner but not a whole bunch, if that makes you feel any better.
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
I just don't like Ben Affleck. J-Lo and her ghetto booty I can take or leave, but Affleck just gets on my nerves.
I'll be really pissed when he ruins Kevin Smith's new movie.
Posted by Sho'nuff (Member # 3214) on :
Ben Affleck has been in 4 of his 5 movies. Did he ruin those?
[ September 17, 2003, 01:06 PM: Message edited by: Sho'nuff ]
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
I liked Affleck in the Kevin Smith movies, Good Will Hunting, and Armegeddon. And despite all the things I disliked about Daredevil, he wasn't one of them. The rest of his movies strike me as leading man fluff. Just not interested.
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
quote: I've tried, over and over, for months now, but I just can't make myself care about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. At least, not as a couple (which the media has dubbed "Bennifer," suggesting some sort of unholy surgical experiment gone horribly awry).
quote:Amazingly enough, in real life celebrities look like people. They're just shorter, older, and wider than they appear on the big screen, and they wear more makeup. And they're every bit as prone to making mistakes as we are
Well, yeah. I grew up in southern California and had people in the industry as neighbors, went to school with some of their kids. Never was really close friends with any of them - didn't hang out outside of school or go to their houses or anything - but knew them. Liked most of them, actually. But what people don't seem to get is that they are generally just folks, nice or not, smart or not, funny or not. Away from the spotlight, they do the same stuff everybody else does.
Now, being in southern California and having close access to the whole industry culture, I also knew people who were celebrity-obsessed. Including a relative or two of mine. Not to generalize overly, but most of those who got into this sort of obsession really didn't have much of a life and thought that if they got close to some celebrity (which they sometimes did, to everyone else's frustration, because that was usually all they talked about) it would improve their lives, make them cooler, I guess. It didn't, but they never seemed to understand that.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
I'm cooler because of my association with Ralphie. What on earth are you saying?
Posted by Sho'nuff (Member # 3214) on :
quote:I liked Affleck in the Kevin Smith movies, Good Will Hunting, and Armegeddon. And despite all the things I disliked about Daredevil, he wasn't one of them. The rest of his movies strike me as leading man fluff. Just not interested.
Don't forget Dazed and Confused and Boiler Room. They weren't "leading man" roles. But he worked well in both of them. He's really good at playing a cocky A**hole.
[ September 17, 2003, 01:34 PM: Message edited by: Sho'nuff ]
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
That riff of his in Boiler Room is a personal favorite. Ben Affleck has that generic good looks thing going. My first college boyfriend looked like him, as well as at least three other guys in my college freshman class. The first week I kept confusing them with each other, wondering why this guy would save me a space in the cafeteria line then look at me like I was an alien three hours later in class. Then it dawned on me. OOPs! Different guy!
I really, really loved Ben Affleck in Dogma. I have only seen The Cell and Out of Sight with J.Lo. Out of Sight was good. The Cell had that guy with nice lips, but that's about all I remember. Blocked the rest out.
Graet column, as always. my favorite line was "unless immediate medical attention is necessary" as it applied to your friend's love lives. *snort*
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
quote: Ben Affleck has been in 4 of his 5 movies. Did he ruin those?
No, but I'm SO not looking forward to the Bennifer dynamic, and on top of that, Jason Mewes won't be in it. ;_; (sob)
Posted by Pod (Member # 941) on :
Apparently Ben Affleck is simliarly befuddled and mystified over the media's obsession with his romantic life. He said he was puzzled over CNNs constant coverage of his love life, and how it kind of makes you wonder if theres anything going on in bosnia currently.
So he gets points for being more in touch with reality than the media. Not that thats hard to do.
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
Don't worry, katharina. You're cool. Way cool. Obviously, you aren't one of the "most". You did see the "most", didn't you?
And, of course, Ralphie is way beyond mere celebrity. So all generalizations are off.
Posted by Ophelia (Member # 653) on :
Kayla, I liked Angel Eyes. I think my whole family did, actually.
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