Natalie Portman

[TransformX]

Today was my son's first day at the kindergarten and my wife left home early so she could take a stroll with his younger sister and not worry about being late. When she was close enough, she sat at a fancy café in old Tel Aviv for a quick something before she picks him. A girl who sat there speaking English with two friends caught her attention briefly, but it was enough to recognize the nondescript girl with the pony tail as none other than Natalie Portman.
Finishing her business there, my wife excused herself, saying she really loved her movies and wished her a nice day. What came next took my wife a little by surprise. Ms Portman barely turned her head to her, not a smile or even eye contact, saying a dry, maybe even annoyed 'thank you' and that was it. Well yes, she is a mega celebrity these days and a decent actor, but the thing that made her stand apart was that certain charm she holds.
My wife felt rejected, she regretted trying to be nice and giving a rather non invasive compliment. There goes the charm, leaving us with a decent actor, but frankly; there are better ones out there.
Would making eye contact and showing her rather famous smile hurt her? I sincerely don't think those extra 2 seconds would have meant much to her, but they do to her fans.
Very disappointing.

[jms]

Sad, but multiply that 2 seconds with thousands of fans and you would be tired too!

[Elie]

This is for you...



Isn't she cute?

[TransformX]

That's a horrid picture...

[TransformX]

Sad, but multiply that 2 seconds with thousands of fans and you would be tired too!

Those thousands of fans paid to watch her on the big screen and on their tv sets. You forget your fans, you forget your future income.

[Dr Mordrid]

In the country music world they stage dedicated events for such things so the performers can go out for dinner without interruption. Imagine what it would be like to have that happen throughout a dinner with your spouse or S/O.

Just being a medical person with a beeper is bad enough, but that? No thanks.

On the other hand were the Detroit Tigers of old. We'd go to the games 2-3 hours early and there would be the Tigers holding court at the dugout with tons of fans, most all kids. Smiles, autographs and attention for their more than dedicated young fans.

Down to Earth was the name of the game, even for stars like Al Kaline. I remember once Boston was in town so Kaline dragged over his good friend Carl Yastrzemski to join the scrum. Class acts both of them. So were long-ball hitter Willie Horton, who grew up in Detroit, and all star catcher Bill Freehan.

Then there was long time Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson; one of the best managers in baseball. One night the wife and I were out with our 2 eldest kids (only ones at the time) and Anderson was at the next table.

We tried to give him his privacy, but our son noticed and couldn't help but look. Next thing we know over comes Sparky who introduced himself (as if he needed to!) then engaged our son in a conversation about baseball. The kid had a grin for days, and a personalized autograph from Anderson himself on Tiger stationary. 25 years later the kid still has that autograph hung on his wall and will grin ear to ear when asked about it.

[ND66]

Perhaps she was a little TORN...

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