Johnny Depp doesn’t miss.
As one of Hollywood’s most bankable, most loved and most endearingly enigmatic stars, Johnny has been on a roll for I-didn’t-count-how-many-years since his breakthrough movie, Edward Scissorhands, came out. His work since has followed a formula we all recognize now – they’re Odd. One can’t dislike a man for openly being odd and making money out of it, can they?
So while you’d expect a successful and talented man to do well, the other reason why we love Johnny so much is that he’s a star. Stars, in our eyes, are permitted to let loose a little. They do so well, everything’s allowed of them (apart from the more nefarious deeds, of course.)
Everything? Well…no. If stars aren’t allowed one thing, it’s the comfort of failure. This arcane little law in the rule-books of star culture is why Johnny’s starry-eyed fans (me included, minus the starry bit) were so shocked when his latest, The Lone Ranger, flopped. It brought home a respectable $217,807,876 worldwide, but really? Throw us numbers as you may, anoraks, but we know that wasn’t a good movie. And that Johnny doesn’t want money; he wants quality. He’s isn’t…allowed these imperfections.
One question. Why not?
Let us put that topic away for a moment. Imperfectionism is a subjective matter. You either are imperfect and accept it, or you seek it out and work it out of your system – a perfectionist. But as a person one is more aware of one’s physical limitations – so perfectionist or not, one is more capable of challenging these limitations and experimenting with them. When you, say, sprint after a football or try to go for that extra chapter/paragraph/ok, sentence of study, you are experimenting with the extent of your own capabilities and endurance. Maybe you will succeed and go ahead to challenge a new objective. Or maybe, you will fall short. You couldn’t accomplish what you started to do, so that’s that.
Failure happens. Each one treats it differently, but it happens. That fact is (mostly) acceptable in you.
So why is it inacceptable in the stars of your dreams?
To pose another question, why are your stars immune to your own shortcomings?
I’ll tell you why. I’ve seen YouTube videos of Roger Federer practising off-season. Now, Federer is (in my eyes and pretty much everyone else’s, too) the most graceful, effortless and simply technically sound tennis player to watch. When in his zone, he’s immaculate. But watching him zone out, taking it easy outside of competition , I was quickly aware of one fact – he is human. He does mis-hit the ball and does have a life apart from gliding between points and exulting with trophy in hand. After that, I began to recognize his weak moments on court and the fact that he is, after everything, not quite perfect. Maybe it made him fall a little in my eyes, but the phenomenon that is Roger Federer became explainable as a human one.
We all watch our reality shows and aforementioned videos to affirm the same thing – that stars, after all, are normal people. They’re one of us.
Recognizing that is key to coming to terms with the disappointments they may hit us with. Every time your picture perfect idol appears before you, look and see. They all have their tics and spasms. They may deliver their lines and hit their strokes, but each has its own nuance.
Ultimately, your ability to recognize both right and wrong, the wows and weeping, the joys and sorrows in every person will make you a more observant, more aware, more sensitive and – most importantly – a more accepting being.