I Care Not What Gwynneth Paltrow Says

It is the height of fashion to bash the actress Gwyneth Paltrow these days. Over the past year, Ms. Paltrow has made many people angry with her comments about working moms, celebrities, marriage, war, the paparazzi, to name a few. Moms are bashing her, soldiers are bashing her. Married people are bashing her. The paparazzi are likely talking some smack about her too, while they lie in wait to photograph her.

I am shocked that so many people are so angry. You hear much, much worse from people who actually get paid to have bothersome opinions.

Gwyneth Paltrow is a celebrity. She gets paid tons of cash to act, and I don't begrudge her that. If I could make millions of dollars doing what I love, I would do it in a heartbeat. Who wouldn't?  But being famous and making tons of cash do not make her an expert on anything except maybe acting.  So why should I take her word on anything else?

When it comes to life, Ms. Paltrow is just like the rest of us. Well, at least the rest of us who grew up with celebrity parents, attended the best schools, etc. She is not a role model for regular moms who work nine hour days.   She has never gone hungry so her children could eat, like Kevin Durant's mom. She's never missed a car payment to pay for medical care. And I would find it difficult to believe that Gwyneth Paltrow scrubs out her own toilet, or cleans out the litter box. She doesn't have to. She has people to do that for her, and they are well paid. Again, I don't look down on her because of that. If I didn't have to, I would never touch a toilet brush again. But I don't have that option, and therefore, I have no frame of reference that would lead me to consider Ms. Paltrow a role model.

Gwyneth Paltrow lives in a world that I, and most of the people on this planet, will never inhabit. I am glad she has found success. She is entitled to her opinion on whatever topics she finds interesting, just like everyone else, no matter how rich or poor they happen to be.  Gwyneth can say what she wants about whatever she wants, just like me. But just because someone expresses an opinion doesn't mean that I have to take it seriously, or even pay attention.

Those toilets won't scrub themselves.