Now and again, good-looking men and women in the entertainment industry decide they want to express themselves artistically outside of their recognized contexts. It may be difficult to determine initially why being attractive, adored, and rich doesn't cut it for these courageous, renaissance people but for some reason they desire to show us that they are so much more than pretty faces who have been unfairly defined by our unsophisticated, superficial perceptions.
So we get Ethan Hawke literature, Jewel poetry, Russell Crowe music, and Fabio cookbooks.
Celebrities proclaiming, “I have something to say dammit! I have something to offer.” And we respond, “But we were content with what you were saying before. We liked it better when you read from the script. We saw your movies, listened to your music, bought your imitation butter spread.” Why expose yourself so proudly as of middling intelligence? Why ruin the mystique?
The answer: In a word, ego. Do not confuse ego with arrogance. The ego is a vital, useful tool prodding us on to express ourselves as boldly as possible and that, I believe, is a good thing. We all have this feature – these folks additionally have the money and connections to act on it.