21st-Century Vox

NEW COLUMN by DYLAN VOX

I guess I’m like the Jeffersons and I’m movin' on up! World of Wonder has decided I can bring my crazy rantings on the Get Spunk'd blog to a larger audience. So here I am taking a step up. If you've read me before, you know that I have had a very colorful and diverse past. If not, I'll bring you up to speed: I graduated law school, have been an extremely successful tennis player, a nationally ranked figure skater, and a champion horseback rider. I have written for magazines and newspapers and have been on reality shows and in films (of various kinds!). I try to start projects in order to achieve a goal, and now I have moved to Hollywood to become a star.

In this column, I'll write about my experiences trying to be successful in a town that is so unforgiving, making observations and incorporating the entertainment world into my own. Suddenly it hits me that the rules begin to change. When you move up in the world you soon realize that there is such a longer way back down and that the steps of the ladder get harder and harder to reach. I used to be able just to sit down and write about what I thought. Now I have an editor looking over my work, I have to worry whether my pictures will be appropriate, and now I have to wonder if people are gonna really like me.

In Hollywood, we start from the bottom and work our way to the top and, while you are kicking and clawing to be the best, you begin to see that the supporters you started with begin to show resentment for your success. I was speaking to a friend about Reece Witherspoon, and about how cool it was that I have watched her career since she was very little, and I was so proud of her for winning the Oscar. My friend said she annoyed him. Now of course, everyone has their own opinion but, just like an asshole, most of them stink. So I asked him why he didn’t like her, and he said that she was so much cooler when she was in indy films like Election and Freeway. Her success was the problem. I realized that the better you do, the more people have to criticize.

Sasha Cohen is the best figure skater of all time. There I said it. Sasha Cohen is NOT the best competitor of all time, and for that she is criticized to the point that people hate her. This year at the World Championships, Sasha was the clear front-runner and unfortunately ended up with the bronze medal, losing out to two lesser skaters who were able to compete better. After the short program, Sasha, who had made one minor mistake but was clearly the best of the night, was asked why she made a mistake and her response was, “ Why do we always focus on what was negative about the program? Why can’t you ask me what I felt was good about it?" The stunned commentator paused and said, “Well, the audience wants to know about the mistakes.”

Hopefully as I take this first step to reaching a wider audience I will remember that there will always be people who are jealous of success, there will always be people who want you to fail, and there will always be people who have their doubts no matter how much you achieve. My job will be to entertain you. I’m willing to make an ass of myself to do so, so I hope you will appreciate it. And if I am successful, I will take another step up the ladder and before I know it, I will have nowhere to go but down. We all fall sometime, but hopefully we will enjoy the ride up. BLOG HARD!

It’s always a business doing pleasure with you!

– Dylan Vox

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