Everyone else is suffering…why aren’t overpaid Hollywood stars any different?

As part of the financial crisis, there’s been a lot of anger at the grossly inflated salaries of ‘fat cats’ and executives working in the city and other high profile spheres. Annual salaries well into six digits, ridiculous bonuses, silly pension funds, bottomless expense accounts and pointless foreign all-expenses-paid jollies. In the new Age Of Austerity, the greed of the few at the expense of the many is seen as way out of touch with the current mood. Particularly within the bailed out banking sector, which now – although I’m no economist – appears to rely solely on tax payers money to keep things afloat. The law was it used to be illegal to rob a bank. When did it become okay for a bank to rob us?

Don’t these same rules apply to Hollywood? The clutch of top actors and actresses who command millions per film – isn’t this out of touch with the current climate? Supporting their ridiculous multi-home, multi-continent exorbitantly extravagant lifestyles. Doesn’t it all look a bit, well sick? Stinky? Not right? What about the millions of minimum wage actors struggling to keep things afloat, to pay the rent, pay bills, even – to put food on the table? Can’t the Hollywood fat cats be fair and spread the dough?

Nice idea – but it just won’t happen. To burst the Hollywood bubble would destroy the myth. Hollywood actors as immortal titans, gods of bling, untouchables, a heavenly escape route for us mere mortals, to create awe in us as we marvel at their perceived supra-lives. If God isn’t going to come down and make his presence known, at least we can look at these fuckers and only wonder and believe. The celebrity as God.

In times of economic hardship more people go to the cinema as it’s a great way of escaping. As a result the Hollywood Gods will only be commanding higher fees and floating in even higher heavenly planes.