Hollywood or the Ghetto? You Decide

Anyone who spends enough time with me will learn that sometimes I think about the most random things. I guess it's just my attempt to amuse myself with the absurdities of this world.

My latest ponderings have been about the strange similarities between stars in Hollywood and people in the Ghetto.

I believe that being in the Star-filled world of Hollywood is very much like living and growing up in the Ghetto. Now let me clarify some things. By the term Hollywood I do not mean the actual place in California but rather the persona it represents. Stars and wealthy people who we hear about all over Star Magazine, Entertainment Tonight Television, and the AOL Website. When I say that Hollywood and the Ghetto are alike, I do not mean in terms of wealth, appearance, or violence, but rather in terms of the mental and spiritual prison that both create.

Stars in Hollywood are trapped. They just don't know it. What they do and how they behave are all a result of what they see around them. Things that the majority of the world outside of Hollywood would frown upon, they do and glory in. They don't even realize that what they do is abnormal. Why else would there suddenly be an influx of actresses having children before they are even married to the father. Now I don't think this is something new to Hollywood, but it's kind of become the "in" thing to do. The Ghetto also is a place where people are trapped. Many grow up knowing only about living around shootings, drug dealers, and gangs. They don't realize that this is not a normal lifestyle to the world outside of the Ghetto. Can you blame them? They behave as a result of all they see around them.

There are many things that everyone just assumes will happen to a Hollywood Star that they do not assume for the rest of the country. The world of Hollywood is full of excessive drunkeness, drug addictions, and massive adultery (each new movie brings a new lover). No one in the outside world is surprised to hear of the latest star caught acting wild at a party, or overdosing on some drug, of being discovered in an ellicit affair with their co-star. We just assume it. No Star's marriage is expected to last more than 2 years before the the divorce papers are delivered. In fact, we are actually shocked when the opposite is proven. Doesn't the same go for the Ghetto? It's no suprise to hear of a school shooting in the Ghetto. Drug dealers and single moms on welfare don't make us flich when we hear about them being in the Ghetto. We are surpirised when we hear accounts of the individual man or woman rising out of the Ghetto to attend college or become a great leader because this norm in our world is not the norm for the world of the Ghetto.

Finally, many Stars who start out innocent and unaffected by Hollywood eventually fall into the cage of that world. How many times have we heard the media glorify the "nice girls" or "nice guys" of Hollywood and then a few years (or even months) later that person is participating and glorying in the above mentioned destructive behaviors. Hollywood sucks them into their world. It's a strong force that promises fame and riches if they only will succomb to the behavioral requirements of that world. The same can be said of the Ghetto. A young person trying to get good grades, not join a gang or do drugs, or just plain get out of the Ghetto, finds themselves drawn to the wealth of drug dealing, the security and companionship found in being in a gang, or the escape that drugs and alcohol provide. Many children in the Ghetto are born just like children outside of the Ghetto, but the pressures and reality of their world cause them to turn to the destructive lifestyles provided by the Ghetto.

See... Hollywood and the Ghetto aren't so different afterall.

Through pondering this strange comparison I find myself thankful that there are strong Christians who are willing to go into the Ghetto and Hollywood to provide the lifeline of Jesus Christ to everyone trapped in these worlds. Too bad there are far too many Christians unwilling to think about both worlds let alone have compassion and share Jesus with the people in them.

Just a thought.