Intellectuals have sought public recognition since AncientGreece. Even today, we glorify media figures instead of thinkersthat challenge the basic principles of society.

Actors like Tom Cruise and rockers like Bono hog media attentionso the public is inundated with constant reminders of who they areand what they are doing now.

When a celebrity speaks at any televised event, whether it is ata talk show, morning show, commercial endorsing some product or inan interview – Americans listen. In a country of 291 million peoplereflecting a melting pot of ethnicities, movies may be the onlyuniting element of culture there is.

We like to watch other people and live vicariously through them.Entire television programs are devoted to the love lives of actors.If we are tired of seeing big box-office stars, we can watch soapopera stars that have the same sordid lives we hear about onEntertainment Tonight.

This obsession fits right into the capitalistic mentality thatthe American economy is so deeply rooted in.

The posh lifestyles of these celebrities are packed with”champagne wishes and caviar dreams,” as Robin Leechsaid. The lifestyle of a star is a much more desirable dream thanthe lifestyle of a starving philosopher or artist.

To most, sitting in a coffee house chain-smoking and conversingabout Friedrich Nietzsche is a less desirable ambition than owninga private jet.

Intellectual pioneers go largely unnoticed. If there is not amovie made of them, the American public may never know of theiraccomplishments.

If “A Beautiful Mind,” starring Russell Crowe,wasn’t made then people may not have known of mathematicianJohn Nash.

Physicist Stephen Hawking, scientist Dain Fossey, philosopherand former president of China Chiang Kai-shek, Green PartySpokesman Ralph Nader and Rolling Stone journalist and authorHunter S. Thompson were all neglected in society until theyappeared in movies or on tv.

Stephen Hawking appeared on an episode of the Simpsons,Sigourney Weaver played Margaret Mead in “Gorillas in TheMist” and Johnny Depp portrayed Hunter S. Thompson in”Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”

Whether you have heard of these figures before or not, theirpopularity in media circles is owed to the fact that anautobiographical movie was made of their work.

Americans are sucked into television screens sporting familiarmedia faces telling us what we need to think, where we should putour money and who we should support.

But what makes us think that an actor who can evoke emotion in atheater actually knows what he is saying? When Bono, the leadsinger of U2, appears on talk shows to support his fight againstpoverty, terrorism , Amnesty International or Greenpeace he becomesan example of a celebrity capitalizing on his star status to lobbysupport for his cause.

So because he’s famous, we should listen? Now, I’velistened to “Joshua Tree,” his words may have beenenough to elevate him to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but arenot necessarily words of wisdom we all need to take into our heartsand minds.

In the days following the 9-11 tragedy, the media flashedreactions from actors intermittently with political andstock-market analysts.

News stations like MSNBC, Fox and CNN were also combiningcelebrity feedback with intellectuals.

Intellectual celebrities, like Susan Sarandon and David Byrne,tend to be neglected from the public eye and are looked upon asoutcasts. Sarandon was escorted out of the 1992 Oscars when shemade her acceptance speech a platform for her political stance onthe War in the Persian Gulf.

Is Laura thinking or starstruck?

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