Oh Johnny! I Love You More Than Ever!

An obscure little column in the paper caught my eye today. I looked it up on imdb.com later to confirm it and yes, it was true. It said that actors Johnny Depp, Colin Farrel and Jude Law completed Heath Ledger's last movie, "The Imaginarium od Doctor Parnassus", and all three of them have decided to give their share of the money to Ledger's two-year old daughter, Matilda. The three DDFG (drop-dead f*****g gorgeous!) actors were concerned when they learnt that Ledger has passed away leaving behind an old will which hadn't been modified to secure the interests of his baby girl.
http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0552040/

Now, first and foremost, let me get this out of the way, because it has to be said. Johnny Depp is my guy. He's my yum-yum. My ooh-la-la! Whenever I watch his movie or see a picture of him I get all goose-bumpy. He's the saliva on my doggy-like-tongue-hanging-out-on-a-hot-summer-day. He's the secret smile on my goofy, adoring face. He's the twinkle in my worshipful still-teenage-old-eye. He's the dhak-dhak of my unstoppably, rapidly beating heart.

And no, for all you people reading this and going 'Tut! Tut! A thought slut" or "Shame! Shame! Whore-y dame" (couldn't resist the rhymes, hehehe), I am not unfaithful to the Man I Married even in my thought processes. I don't have sexual fantasies about JD involving thongs, candles, juicy pieces of fruit, silk handkerchiefs and body chocolate. Where I am his Playboy bunny and he my Love Doctor. Nah. Nope. None of those. Mine involve the two of us sitting in a cosy room, with a view of rain clouds and lush greenery, where we read out books of poetry and passages of great prose to each other long into the starlit night. Sssssssiiiiiiiiiiigggggggghhhhhh! Imagine that! One entire evening of staring into those eyes with his undivided attention! Mmmmm hmmmm hmmmm! I just think he's incredibly amazing to look at and listen to. I mean, I would seriously be happy with a thinking, talking bust of his on my coffee table...something to ogle as well as share an interesting conversations with!

So, you can imagine how many times my heart must have flipped over in different directions when I read this bit of news. Three drool-worthy guys who are objects of female adoration and fantasy, and I know not all the women out there have daydreams as lame and tame as mine. And two of these gorgeous men have more than their fair share of bad press thanks to their temper tantrums, anger management issues and wild sexcapades. Right! So, they all have a lavish lifestyle...the kind that we mere mortals only dream about. These Hollywood and Bollywood types earn more money than they know what to do with and are often portrayed as being selfish pigs, with no heart, too much lust, hedonistic lifesyles and zero sensitivity. Unfortuntely, it's part and parcel of their profession. We all know the obscene amonts of money these guys make and we hardly hear anything about good causes, charity and the like. I'm not painting them all with the same brush, because occasionally we get to read about the AIDS awareness campaigns, the 'save the children' crusades, the 'going to Africa' missions, the 'raise money for cancer survivor' concerts, and what have you. But, come on, we get to hear more about who slept with whom, where and when and how many times and in which positions. We know about fights and brawls in the pubs. We read about the actor/actress who 'turned up late for a shoot, dead drunk and mean', yet they still got paid in the tune of millions. Then you get detailed reports about the 5th divorce and the ugly custody battle; you hear about the paparazzi whose face was used as a punching bag; the big car which mowed down innocents sleeping on a pavement; the tax evasions; the illegal hunting and shooting of animals...and we can't help but think, "What a filthy rich, disgustinly spoilt lot! B*****ds!"

And then you read about something like this. OMG, what a wonderfully kind, generous and loving act was this? No one asked them too, they just felt that it was the right thing to do for a little girl, growing up without a father and not protected by his will, due to his premature death.

What would have happened to little Matilda if these three hunks hadn't been around with her best interests at heart? Maybe nothing. Maybe things are fine (financially that is, the emotional loss of course is tremendous!) Maybe Matilda's mother, Michelle Williams, didn't have to move courts and run around trying to get her daughter a fair share of what should be her rightful inheritance. Maybe Ledger's beneficiaries will give, or have already given Matilda, a not unfair amount of money to ensure that she needn't worry about anything. I'd like to think that way.

But unfortunately we read and know about far too many instances of greed and property fights. Tales of brother-against-brother. Widowed daughters-in-law thrown out of the house without a cent. Aged mothers and fathers languishing in broken-down old-age homes. The girl child being denied any right to her father's property. We know about this. All of this. And it all serves to harden the heart of this cynic even further.

And then you read something wonderful like this. About three movie heroes, one of them the object of my affections, living up to the very word. And the core of that hardened heart, where hope and optimism still dwell, begins to beat faster.