In other news, Forbes magazine has announced its top-100 most powerful celebrities. Apparently, this is their fourth annual list, but I had never heard of it before. According to the Forbes web site, their methodology for creating the list is as follows: Start with money. Add fame. Mix. We rank the relative star power of actors, athletes, singers and talking heads--how much they earn and how many people are paying attention.
So who's number 1 this year? Yup, Melly Mel. I guess one can't really argue that considering the ridiculous success of his slasher film. Mel beat out former golfer Tiger Woods. (What? He still plays? I read the first few paragraphs of this and didn't see his name anywhere. Is it just me, or do you think his Swedish model wife has ruined his game?)
The full list isn't all that interesting, except I am surprised to see Johnny Depp as high as #10, higher, for example, then Jim Carrey (#15) or Julia Roberts (#24), to name just two. And poor Brad Pitt (#36) has to be content with actually edging out Tom Hanks (#37), although both of them were trumped by David Copperfield (#35)!
Speaking of Trump, the Donald got stuck in the bottom fifty at #64, but at least he beat-out the other breakout reality TV star: her blooming porn star career not-withstanding, poor Paris could only manage to rank #70.
Going over to check-out what is normally the domain of Uncle Grambo, the now-legal Olsens (#48) still rule the roost, but it's easy to see Lohan (#97) and Bynes (#98) fighting their ways up the chart to challenge, but they both still have a ways to go before catching Duff (#72).
Who comes in dead last, but still higher than the never-to-be-revealed #101? Superstar Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten (#100), which is actually a perfect capper to this list because only people in the Forbes readership would have any idea who he is.
Of course, I can't really put any credence in a list that calls itself a "power list" yet includes the likes of The Lord of the Dance! He's #75.
I'm suspicious of the list mostly because they look only at popularity and money, not people who are actually exercising either in the form of power. Tom Cruise hasn't done anything I've even bothered to watch since Eyes Wide Shut and I only saw that because Kubrick directed it; even Michael Bay, as much as I loathe him, is more relevant to the power structure than ol' Tom.
Aside from that, the Olsens have an empire in the works that could rival Oprah's if given time, so why the hell aren't they higher than the Rolling Stones? Mick & Co. haven't done anything resembling worthwhile—nor anything that exercises their celebrity "power"—since they gave us Exile on Main Street. At least the Olsens are out working for their money, not resting on their laurels and putting on the same damn rock show that they did in 1973. Hell, even Bono is more relevant than they are at the moment.
And while I'm at it, who even remembers Michael Jordan anymore? Since when does Tom "In Spielberg's Pocket" Hanks rank lower than Johnny Depp (as much as I love him)? Is Forbes working from the 1998 celebrity list?
Posted by: Marleigh | Friday, June 18, 2004 at 07:58 PM