We’ve sort of sensed it for a couple of years now, but it took the recent 69th Golden Globe awards show to make it “official”: This decade’s Mr. Hollywood is no less—and no more—than George Clooney.
The drop-dead looker was all over the place that night: poking friendly fun at Brad Pitt by making his stage entrance with a cane; posing proudly beside his taller but equally drop-dead date; being praised for his script and direction of his other film (“The Ides of March”), which is up for possible Globe honors; and romping off with the best dramatic actor award for his career-best performance in “The Descendants,” which also won the best dramatic feature trophy.
On top of it all, Clooney basked in his peers’ appreciation of his support for many worthy causes which include film preservation and the development of new screen talents. And the cherry on top of that yummy scoop of ice cream is that he has been able to do so much while making it appear that he’s just having fun.
Influential
That lighthearted, comedic, prankster and even goofy approach is what makes Clooney the right “Mr. Hollywood” for today’s similarly aw-shucks denizens of the fabled film capital.
Therein lies an instructive and cautionary tale, because the movies’—and TV’s—dominance of the human race’s pop cultural sensibilities and antipathies has exerted an excessive influence on who we are, and what we’ve become.
In fact, iconic film people, including Mr. Clooney himself, have become as influential as some political leaders.
More to the point, the dividing line between politicians and entertainers has been breached so much so often that (have you noticed?) some of the “presidentiables” in the United States Republican party’s current runoffs look like movie stars (and recent or current US presidents like Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama can also be described as “camera-ready”).
Charisma
Clooney himself has been involved in the US presidential campaign, so he knows better than most people how charisma and photogenic personality translate into votes and power.
He’s proven by way of his film output and advocacies that he cares deeply enough about his fellowmen’s good to put his privacy and sanity on the line—and, like Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger before him, decide to run for a key public post.
But, that would directly run counter to his cool and sometimes even goofy persona, so it would take a lot for him to make that decision.
Besides, he can’t even decide to finally settle down and get married, so romancing an entire nation at the polls would freak him out that much more. Talk about commitment that would separate the man from the eternal Georgie Boy he’s remained, despite his already being in his 50s.
So his being “Mr. Hollywood” will have to do for now, and that suits Clooney just fine.
Being a serious filmmaker aside from a matinee idol, he can straddle both show-biz worlds, the silly and the substantial, and help guide the industry into its brilliant future—while having the time of his life.