What is fame? What is celebrity? Why do we obsess over the lives of the famous and why do so many of us desire it so much for ourselves? Celebrity has become a very confusing word these days.

WHY THIS TOPIC?

There was a time when you had to accomplish something important to become famous. You had to have a talent, go to space, be a hero, a leader, or even a really good bank robber to get your name to the fore.

Somewhere along the way, everything changed, at least partly because of reality TV. The Kardashians are huge celebrities, and I’m still not entirely sure why. They have become part of our official news feed, but for no reason that I can tell, other then of course, ratings.They do sex tapes, have sex change operations, marry famous athletes, sell clothes and fragrances, and every so often try to break the Internet. They are very good at this and seem to have cracked some kind of secret code. They are famous for being famous.

Now, regular people with no discernable skill other then to be willing to marry, date, or join of a group of gossiping housewives on television, are well-known for nothing. And then they end up getting invited to other reality shows to recycle that fame based on nothing.

In a time, when companies have been declared to be people in terms of their legal rights, people are becoming more like companies. Because everyone and everything is now a brand. And the more well known your brand is, the more products you can sell, even if your main product is simply yourself.

If you happen to see a famous person in a restaurant or on the street, there are unwritten rules about whether or not it’s okay to approach them. Without going into all of those now, most of us, are probably hoping for a positive encounter that might include an autograph or photograph, because that brings us a form of reflected fame when we show our friends proof of our unusual encounter.

Over the years, I have had encounters with well-known comedians, actors, singers, billionaire ceos, authors, motivational speakers, political commentators, and sports legends, most often, but not always, because I was performing at the same event.

So I am going to close this column with a few of my own personal celebrity encounters and borrow on some of their reflected fame. While I don’t want to just turn this into a gossip column, I am interested in discovering what else we can learn about fame to understand it more fully.

With that in mind, I would love to hear from any of you about your own personal celebrity encounters and any ideas you might have about this topic in general.

CELEBRITY ENCOUNTERS WITH TWO VERY DIFFERENT KINDS OF ACTORS

So here goes. Once, by chance, I sat next to a famous actor in first class on a cross-country flight. The actor talked about his life for the full 5 hours including true stories about his dad, his sister, and John Lennon, and they were riveting, but halfway through, I realized he wasn’t much interested in my life or me as a person, but was largely just using my attention to gratify his own ego.

So even though, that was the logical pecking order for that encounter, it made me think that something was missing in him that made him need me, an admittedly willing fan, to listen to him talk nonstop for 5 straight hours. I think I’m right about this feeling, but I can of course, call this same quality out in myself. After all, I’m asking for your attention to tell you my story about listening to his story.

A second encounter, also on a plane, involved my favorite leather coat being moved by the last passenger entering a 20-seat puddle jumper, so he could make room in the bin for his luggage. The man politely asked me if it was my coat and if I could hold it and he then said thanks and that was the end of it. That man was and still probably is, the world’s most famous male porn star.

I reluctantly have to confess, I have seen some of this individual’s work and at this point in his life, he looked pretty unkempt, quite heavy, and his hair was long and greasy. In short, he looked really sleazy. As I took my coat from his hands, I wondered if it was still safe to wear. Still, I had so many questions I wanted to ask him, but was afraid of opening up a can of weirdness, and even though he sat right in front of me, I never uttered a word.

Oh, and just in case you hadn’t guessed by now, the actor was Peter Fonda and the porn star was Ron Jeremy. I still have the coat and it’s fine, but more importantly, when I see a Peter Fonda movie, I always remember that flight and his stories. So maybe it was a win-win after all.

I look forward to any stories or ideas about this topic any of you might have.