If you've ever read a copy of US Weekly, the celebrity gossip magazine, you'll recognize that the title of this column is a play on a phrase they use in a photo feature called: STARS — THEY'RE JUST LIKE US!
The section is a collection of celebrities caught on camera doing ordinary things like grocery shopping and putting money into parking meters. While the “us” is a play on the magazine's title, it also conveys the idea that celebrities are not “others.” They are like us and we are like them and if you doubt it, the proof is right there in a picture of Matt Damon applying sunscreen and Kate Moss eating french fries. (Both examples are actual photos that appeared in the magazine's Aug. 15 issue). It's like an exercise in celebrity anthropology. We have actual evidence that we are more like this strange tribe of the famous than we thought.
A similar tone underlies the premise of “Same Name,” a series on CBS where for example, David Hasselhoff - beloved by “Bay Watch” fans and all of Germany - and David Hasselhoff - beloved by his wife and newborn son in small-town Texas - swap lives for a few days. Episodes also feature Kathy Griffin, the Emmy winning stand-up comic and Kathy Griffin the Atlanta fiberglass saleswoman, as well as Mike Tyson the dad and part-time nurse from Michigan and Mike Tyson the heavyweight champion and reformed ear-biter.
While Hasselhoff's episode is an exercise in feel-good image-making for the Hoff (he buys two commercial-size lawnmowers for the family business, first-class tickets for his namesake to fly to Germany for a show and starts a college fund for the man's baby), Tyson has more hurdles to overcome, as much is made of his ear-biting past. The wife of Mike Tyson the nurse claims she had reservations about participating because she was wary of famous Mike's past violent behavior. Similarly, after admitting that she finds famous Kathy funny but would never pay to see her because she is coarse, Kathy Griffin of Atlanta has an uneasy conversation with celebrity Kathy's gay friends as she struggles to understand their homosexuality. Both Tyson and Griffin's episodes are interesting examples of the “ours” and “yours” notion of celebrity where non-famous people feel that the famous don't necessarily share their values.
But then the participants learn lessons. The non-famous make the amazing discovery that celebrities work hard for what they have. The stars realize that family is more important than material wealth. It's a simple and gimmicky structure that's about as revealing as the fact that Matt Damon protects himself from sunburn. Still, the series deserves points for trying because even though the common ground the participants reach is cliche, they reach it. Underlying this is the significant idea that both parties remove themselves, however temporarily, from the self-appointed position of authority that allowed them to judge one another in the first place. It's a lesson we can all learn.
Melissa Crawley credits her love of all things small screen to her parents, who never used the line, "Or no TV!" as a punishment. Her book, “Mr. Sorkin Goes to Washington: Shaping the President on Television's 'The West Wing,’” was published in 2006. She has a PhD in media studies. To comment on Stay Tuned, email her at staytuned2011@hotmail.comor follow her on Twitter: @MelissaCrawley.
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