Emilie de Ravin, Robert Pattinson, Remember Me (top); James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Avatar (middle); Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche, Spread (bottom)
Singer Lady Gaga, actor Robert Pattinson, artist Banksy, Apple entrepreneur Steve Jobs, Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey, actor-tweeter Ashton Kutcher, talk show host Conan O'Brien, artist Zaha Hadid, filmmaker James Cameron, and Nelson Mandela's wife Graça Machel have all been included in Time magazine's 2010 list of the world's most influential people.
The "Heroes" section — kept apart from the "Thinkers" section — is particularly eclectic: action film star Jet Li, former US president Bill Clinton, tennis player Serena Williams, World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador Liya Kebede, ChildCount+'s Matt Berg, and Night at the Museum actor Ben Stiller, among others.
Obviously, no one in his or her right mind would take those things seriously. The essays written on each of the Top 100 have been penned by fans of varying degrees of repute and ill-repute, grace and disgrace:
Henry Kissinger drools over Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, who is credited for turning the tiny Southeast Asian city-state into a financial powerhouse (no mention, of course, of Lee's firm belief in stuff such as curbs on personal and media freedom, and "corporal punishment," i.e., torture); the invariably trustworthy Tony Blair gives kudos to Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad; Michael Moore idealizes Workers' Party Brazilian president Luiz Inacio da Silva (aka Lula), while fully ignoring Lula's thoroughly pro-business policies, his disregard for Brazil's environment, and the myriad corruption scandals that have plagued his government.
Also, Sarah Palin throws hosannas at fellow far-right, anti-social justice advocate Glenn Beck; Gael Garcia Bernal has some good things to say about Alter Eco's founder Tristan Leconte, Cyndi Lauper goes all out for Lady Gaga, and Betty White praises this year's Best Actress Oscar winner and about-to-become-divorcee Sandra Bullock's determination and physique (but not her newly adopted child; that came later).
Ben Stiller got an essay from Robert De Niro, with whom Stiller starred in Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers — the latter, one of the worst movies ever made anywhere in the universe.
Robert Pattinson was the topic of The Twilight Saga: New Moon director Chris Weitz ("I love you, Rob! Call me!"). Stephen Daldry wrote about Elton John ("he is also the best friend anyone could possibly hope for") while John penned the mini-essay about billionaire Ukrainian businessman Victor Pinchuk, who "shows his love of our planet and makes the world a better place to live."
Even before I looked at his page, I just knew that Sigourney Weaver had been the one who had written the paean to James Cameron. There could have been no one else.
Here's a telling remark about the maker of Avatar: "But the truth is — although he has extraordinary abilities, appetite and drive," Weaver explains, "Jim simply does not recognize human limitations in himself or anyone else. … Please don't anyone ever cast him in a movie. If he finds out that he can act too, we'll know for sure the guy is a mutant."
Missing from Time's final "most influential" list: early popular entry Shahrukh Khan.
Photo: Remember Me (Myles Aronowitz / Summit Entertainment); Avatar (Mark Fellman / 20th Century Fox); Spread (Dale Robinette / Barbarian Film Group LLC)
ASHTON and ROBERT is very special for me !