The Smiths - Reality Hollywood Style

The Smiths

Living life at the outer limits, Will Smith and son, Jaden, gave a 'twilight zone'  interview to New York Magazine last week that went weird. A promo interview for the movie After Earth, which stars both father and son, the Smiths responded to questions in other-worldly fashion. They spoke of mathematical theories previously published only on the wrinkled inside of fast food takeout bags. Will, "I'm a student of patterns. At heart, I'm a physicist. I look at everything in my life as trying to find the single equation, the heart of everything."

The responses, I believe, capture the essence of the 'bubble' lives of the Hollywood elite.  It's not good, bad, or crazy - it just is.  Will Smith is an 'A' lister and like many in the Hollywood family practices nepotism - which has been a mainstay vice in Tinseltown of decades. This often spawns contrived actors who are spoon-fed 10 word at a time scripts and use every known cinema enhancement gimmick from voice-overs to body doubles.  But it all part of the trade.

For the Hollywood elite, reality and fantasy blur.  For example, Jaden Smith, who is 15, has stated that he will file for legal emancipation from his parents control next year.  Emancipation from what is unclear - a dream life perhaps.  The Smiths are a metaphore for Hollywood - self-engrossed, dollar driven, egotistical, nepotistic, all injected with heavy doses of megalomania.  Hmmm, but isn't this what Hollywood is all about and what makes it tick.  For without these traits Hollywood would not exist. For in what other industry do you see hundreds of millions of dollars being invested on a daily basis in projects where success is determined by moviegoer preference.

So, let's cut the Smiths a little slack. Sure they have hundreds of millions, sure they live in a bubble, sure they have weird life-styles and viewpoints, but from where they stand this is normal and evident behavior.

Best and Happy Movie Going!
Jim Lavorato