Too good to last

When the Heath Ledger media circus was just gaining some steam last week, early guesses were that he committed suicide because the crush of starpower was just too much for him.

It's a shopworn storyline that the small town boy (or girl) works hard, gets discovered, is well-respected for doing what they do well and eventually can't take the 24-hour scrutiny that comes as a nasty side effect.

As near as anyone can tell, some party too much in order to keep things at bay (Chris Farley), some can't imagine continuing in the new world that has sprung up around them (Kurt Cobain) and others just burn out and disappear. (I honestly can't believe how many Cobain action figures show up during a simple Google search for the guy's name. Wow.)

Not that this is a new phenomenon as Ernest Hemingway proved to us decades ago, but it's still disturbing.

The reason I even bring it up is because as the reports came in from New York, Discovery HD re-ran Motorcycle Madness 3, the third in a series of specials that I never miss. Especially in HD.

The show was driven by Jesse James' desire to get back to work after becoming a household name. At one point, he's beside himself because he can't get much done at his shop in Long Beach and refers to it as "Graceland for bikers."

Much like the questions surrounding the expectation of privacy when it comes to public photography, the lines drawn for who should expect to be left alone and who should accept the intrusions are pretty arbitrary.

What makes it acceptable to hound starlets and not to run up with cameras when it comes to custom bike builders - aside from the obvious invitations for bodily harm from harassing the builders?

I guess that even when it comes to career choices, there's no great reason to expect anything other than controlled media exposure on a daily basis. By that, I mean that bike builders are not inherently required to face their public, like an actor or a musician. In theory, they could hole up near the Canadian border and ship new bikes down on a semi every week.

Still, while actors and singers are expected to perform - and would seemingly enjoy that part of the social contract - I don't see any reason why they couldn't expect to be left alone when they don't choose to be on stage.

The variable with that of course, is that people want to see them in their off hours. Supply and demand is a dangerous concept when it comes to privacy.

Still, the day to day nonsense of stars crying about their privacy only goes so far. If you choose to live in Los Angeles and then complain, there's not a lot of room for sympathy in my book. It seems that stars who want to stay away from California aren't hounded to the extent that those who live in town do - this, of course, makes me wonder what would happen if John Mellencamp had a viable career at this point. Would people flock to take his picture in the middle of Indiana?

Still, it can't be an easy thing to get to the top of the heap only to have the sweetness of that accomplishment taken away because you can't enjoy your money or the free time that comes with making thousands of dollars for a few weeks work.

In another section of the special, James talks about how he's doing so well that no one will give him the time to work anymore. At that point, he buys a new shop that he can shut the doors to more easily in the hopes of getting back to being creative.

I have to say that I actually believe the guy when he grumbles. His web site has cut back on the merchandise and he makes a more than honest effort to keep working on his metalworking skills instead of just taking the easy path to superstore bike builder. When I compare his works to those that are turned out by the guys at Orange County Choppers, I see more outlaw spirit and old school metalworking. I love the bikes that OCC produces and the now intentional comedy that comes from their show, but if the cameras would be turned off tomorrow, I believe James would be a happier man.

This is the long way around to the point that while some people enjoy performing (or producing) for the public, that it doesn't necessarily mean that they enjoy that attention in their off hours. It's a distinction I had a hard time making before last week, following the conventional path that singers and actors were natural attention junkies who needed to quit bitching.

Just for good measure, the next crop of starlets might want to get some really aggressive pit bulls, a series of tattoos that seem to result from a series of bad decisions and weeklong benders and a chestful of cast-iron tools at arm's reach.

I'm betting the paparazzi would think twice about baiting Britney Spears if she was ready to hurl a five-pound wrench towards their skulls at a moment's notice.

(Image from: KultureShock.co.uk)