Taylor the Teacher

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As Hollywood people go, I like you. I say “as Hollywood people go” because I don’t know you. ~and because so much of celebrity land doesn’t seem to conform to even minimal standards of behavior, but that’s not your fault. i’ll try to talk to you like a regular human~ I have no opinion of Brad Pitt, except to say that his taste in women is excellent. ~this letter started out because i was thinking that jennifer aniston has risen above ‘friends’ very well~

I didn’t even know who Brad Pitt was until Mr. and Mrs. Smith. ~my out-of-the-loopness has been well documented~ If my open letter to you sounds off to something major hitting the tabloids right now, it’s because I really don’t care about the minutiae of your life, and I am insulted by media who think I do. I don’t know what the they are saying rightnowthisveryminuteomigod.

But I do like your movies, and I’ve paid intermittant attention over the years. What I know about you over the last 10 years or so is this, quick and raw:

You had Billy Bob Thornton’s blood in a vial around your neck once on Jay Leno. You mentioned a dream to have a bunch of animals on a big plot of land, and I remember a general disgust with ~what was it, exactly?~ something about the status quo in America. I thought it was weird about the blood in a vial thing, especially when you wouldn’t let anyone touch it, but I believed you were genuine. I respected you, even if I didn’t understand you. I also realized you were young. I think people forget that with celebrities. Nobody else does all their growing in front of the camera. Youtube is timeless. ~that’s also, generally, how i felt about some photos of you kissing your brother, and something about knives that i knew at one time, but have forgotten~

During the making of “Tomb Raider,” you insisted on doing your own stunts. You were bruised & sore, but you kept going because being an actress wasn’t enough, you wanted to know it all about your Croft craft. You kept working yourself. Then, while you were there you met people from Cambodia and learned from them. Even being Lara Croft didn’t make you stop looking around for more out of life. And you adopted a son. And you care deeply about the problems in the world. And you and Brad Pitt adopted more kids from other countries. And, supposedly, y’all are in love.

Some people are cynical and say petty shit about that, with it being so “happily ever after” and all. ~haters~ But I’ve always thought you were pretty much just a decent, smart woman trying to be an actress in this society without losing your mind. You’ve never given me reason to doubt you. I hope it’s all true. ~you know, the good stuff they say~

None of the above is why I wrote to you today, but I thought I’d introduce myself to you ~because it’s polite, right? and because that way you’d know right away that i only half-way know what i’m talking about~ But I just popped over to a quick Google News search, and found that two of the things they’re saying today about you and your family dovetail nicely with what I was going to say:

1) You give a tremendous amount of money, both in terms of dollars and of percentages, to causes that help people around the world.

2) You and your husband are each ancestrally related to one of the opposing Democratic candidates. ~and that’s supposed to mean something for american politics~

First, thank you. Thank you for being a strong, beautiful, famous woman that is worthy of emulation. I hate the fact that so many of my students were into Britney Spears a few years ago. It’s a shame for them to be so young when their idols fall so far. Like many of us “regular” folks living in America, ~you know, that useless expanse of land between New York and L.A.~ I routinely question the wisdom of setting young girls up as role models simply because they’re sexy. ~newsflash! we were ALL sexy at 18, at least i was~

But given the current celebrity-crazed situation, I’m glad you’ve stepped up to the plate to use your position of influence for good. I’m also tremendously glad that your good-doings don’t seem to be intended to cover up or distract from scandal. And THAT means you’re also not regularly doing stupid shit that results in people having to look at your crotch in public, and by extension ~and much more importantly~ my having to look at your crotch or hear mention of your crotch over and over. You’ve handled yourself with grace. ~and that makes you even sexier~ Thank you for that. I’m weary of shallow antics and bad marriages on the news.

Okay, that’s really all I was going to say to you before I did the Google search, but now I want to say this:

If somebody was using my family tree data to make extrapolations about the merits of two of the candidates for president of a country that was a critical player in the world, ~a country whose policies influence the well being of poor people in ripple effects all over the planet~ I would find a way to make a statement to the effect that my family ties should not be construed as evidence of anything. ~yes, we need that. humiliating, but true~

I would, so much as it depended on me, encourage self-reliant thinking in America. The war machine that ravages so much of the world is allowed to exist in part because too many Americans don’t know or care about it. Or they don’t know enough or care enough. You have an opening to say something about American politics, which I’m sure people want to parlay into a score for their side.

But the best thing you could do right now is not to endorse a candidate but to remind us what’s really important. Then let us choose for ourselves. Nothing will really change until people start thinking and relying on themselves again.

But if you must endorse a candidate do it gracefully, in a reasoned way. Please don’t be that one celebrity that seemed to have some sense and then failed to realize that anyone who cares about the fate of the world’s poor cannot afford to forget about America. What does this mean, in practice? I have no idea. I wouldn’t presume to tell you what that means in terms of your mission.

But I’ll bet it means something. I’m just asking you to think about it.

On the other hand, I can assure you that George Clooney is doing nothing to help American politics. There are better examples, of course, of celebrity intervention in politics, but not better enough when you consider the size of their megaphones. I always prefer it when celebrities stay away from political candidates and parties. ~though not necessarily from political ideas~ But if you get involved in American politics, I would hope for better from you than what we’ve seen from your ~ah-hem~ colleagues so far.

I hope you would think deeply into the problem and do your best to address its root. I hope you would refrain from doing anything at all until the right chance to help presented itself. I hope you would pay serious attention to what’s going on in the American political landscape and look for strategic ways to help.

I have no reason to doubt you are doing that. But if the decisions ever get tough, I thought it might help you to know these things. ~i’m not dork-ily overstating this. it’s hard to do the right thing sometimes~

By the way, you were awesome in “Girl, Interrupted.”