Hollywood--There's no place on earth, no one-world leader or government agency that can spin and hype virtually anything as this town can. It's safe to say that much of what the film industry produces or claims must be treated with considerable skepticism. That's why the emotionally laden confessions of infidelity on the part of actress Kristen Stewart, 22 and her 41-year-old Snow White director Rupert Sanders are curious.
The fantasyland that big bucks showbiz people live in has only one stark point of reality...making money out of positive and even negative situations. And this now inbred industry has the power to tell us what it wants and expects us to buy what is says since the US movie and TV news networks are part of the same multi- media conglomerates.
Stewart is currently Hollywood's biggest female money maker and Sanders scored a major hit with Snow White and the Huntsman.
Yet, young actresses being seduced by their older directors have become part of Hollywood legend. And if what Stewart and Sanders admit is true I'm sure theirs won't be the last such indiscretion done by thespians.
But is this confession true or just another way to hype up box office sales? How in hell would these two people, one a family man with a glamorous wife and the other supposedly in-love with actor Robert Pattinson, be caught in an area swarming with paparazzi by a photo snapping paparazzi? And with photos that aren't long distance blurry shots, but sharp romantic close ups worthy of being publicity pictures.
Needless to say this was the top story on all the US showbiz shows and it even got a mention on the main network newscasts. As a news item, other than the alleged cheating, the most revealing aspect of Stewart's statement was the first time she openly admitted her deep love for Pattinson.
To say the least, the action in and out of his or her car seems fool-hearty and something no celebrity in her right mind would do. On the other hand, she's only 22 and an artist, which brings to mind a line from Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway." "An artist makes his own moral universe." Whether that universe includes trumped up stories ready made for the ravenous showbiz press is something we may never know. And we also may never know how far the so-called cheating went.... was it limited to heavy petting or did they go "all the way."
A part of Hollywood fantasy is designer lifestyles where the rules and morals mere mortals have to obey don't seem to apply. How many major actors, aside from Robert Downey Jr., have been accused and convicted crimes then serving lengthy jail terms?
But there is a price to pay for being a celebrity...a loss of privacy and freedom of movement because everywhere someone such as Stewart travels, people are watching. And conveniently in this case it was a showbiz photographer. Two things are certain, however, Kristen is no Snow White. And she digs British guys.