"I am utterly bored by celebrity interviews. Most celebrities are devoid of interest"
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Ebert’s boredom lands like a dismissal, but it’s really a defense of criticism as something sturdier than access. “Utterly” isn’t casual; it’s the blunt instrument of someone who’s watched the interview-industrial complex turn art into personality branding. The line doesn’t flirt with nuance because he’s puncturing a genre that survives on fake intimacy: the ritual where a famous person performs relatability and the interviewer pretends that proximity is insight.
The subtext is less “celebrities are stupid” than “celebrity is a bad instrument for meaning.” Ebert’s lifelong project was to treat movies as experiences, arguments, and craft, not as extensions of their makers’ personal mythology. Celebrity interviews, especially in late-20th-century entertainment media, often reverse that equation: the work becomes an excuse to circulate anecdotes, quirks, and carefully laundered “realness.” Ebert calls it boring because it’s pre-scripted, risk-averse, and structurally allergic to revelation. The star’s job is to be liked; the publicist’s job is to keep the story frictionless; the interviewer’s job is to keep the machine humming.
There’s also a democratic edge to the jab. Ebert made his reputation by taking popular culture seriously without taking fame seriously. By declaring most celebrities “devoid of interest,” he’s refusing the cultural assumption that attention equals depth. It’s a reminder that charisma is not character, and that a critic’s loyalty is owed to the audience’s curiosity, not to the glow of the red carpet.
The subtext is less “celebrities are stupid” than “celebrity is a bad instrument for meaning.” Ebert’s lifelong project was to treat movies as experiences, arguments, and craft, not as extensions of their makers’ personal mythology. Celebrity interviews, especially in late-20th-century entertainment media, often reverse that equation: the work becomes an excuse to circulate anecdotes, quirks, and carefully laundered “realness.” Ebert calls it boring because it’s pre-scripted, risk-averse, and structurally allergic to revelation. The star’s job is to be liked; the publicist’s job is to keep the story frictionless; the interviewer’s job is to keep the machine humming.
There’s also a democratic edge to the jab. Ebert made his reputation by taking popular culture seriously without taking fame seriously. By declaring most celebrities “devoid of interest,” he’s refusing the cultural assumption that attention equals depth. It’s a reminder that charisma is not character, and that a critic’s loyalty is owed to the audience’s curiosity, not to the glow of the red carpet.
Quote Details
| Topic | Movie |
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