To Die For.... (final assignment)

Wanna be a big rock star?  Really?  

Would you do whatever it takes…to be famous? 

How far would you be willing to go…just to be skinny and pose on the cover of Vogue?  Would you do anything, be it right or wrong, to be filthy rich?  

What would you be willing to die for?

When Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman), who plays in the movie To Die For, sees the flashbulbs of the paparazzi, she feels as if her whole world has lit up in front of her.   Her love of self, fame and glamour, embark her on a dark journey of doing whatever it takes, just to be that….famous in front of cameras for all to see.  Regardless of the price, she is willing to do whatever it takes to get her start in that path to fame.   

"What's the point in doing something good if nobody's watching?" she says in one of her lines.  Media has become her obsession.  She feels is the vehicle that will take her to stardom, regardless of how fast or dangerous her journey becomes.

She starts as a weathergirl at a local TV station.  But her aspirations of grandeur don't end there, as she uses this to put her foot in the business door as her goal is to be a star.  

But…she is also a newlywed.   Despite that her husband supports her; she feels he is hindering her quest of fame and glamour.  He wants a family, she does not.  He wants her at home, she lives to be out and thus the conflict and dark path begins.

She befriends school teenagers and has a romantic affair with one, in hopes of coercing him to murder her husband.  She plants the seed, makes the plans, provides the motivation and in her mind, she is willing to do whatever it takes to be in the media.   For Suzanne Stone, the price of this fame and attention is murder.

In the end….the police discover that James, her teenage lover is the one that killed her husband and the police also find out it was Suzanne that was behind the plan.  

Before the police can catch her, James’ parents, involved with mob connections, have Suzanne killed.   

Based on a true story or not, it does expose a reality in certain people that are willing to do whatever it takes to be famous.  Whether it’s TV actor, a photojournalist, politician, a pastor…it shows that their passions can get away from them … in the name of fortune and fame.  

Perhaps that is why ethics is a big part of media.  There are those who might just be willing to do whatever it takes to get their names in the paper, their faces in front of cameras, whether it is right or wrong, true or not.    And those who think they are "oh just so beautiful" and feel that the best way to share that beauty with others, is by being in the limelight.    

How many stories have been changed or embellished to make that quick sell?  How many back stabbings have occurred just to get in front?  How many people have been hurt, when sex is used for selfish gain?

Maybe next time you see a famous actor, newscaster, that skinny model, the "Bernie Madoffs" of the cooperate world or the talk show host….maybe you'll wonder what they did to get to where they are?

What would I be willing to die for?   I can't think of anything.   

But that doesn't mean that as the aspiring "wanna be" photographer that I am, that I wouldn't use this blog to have people check out my portfolio on FACEBOOK and see how good I am???  

Wait…that wouldn’t be the same thing now, right?