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From Emma Jane Taylor, Editor:
I have a confession. At the grand old age of 24, I have succumbed to a
girly crush on a movie star. And not just any movie star a movie star
who could easily pass for 14. Rumor has it he doesn't even shave yet.
It was a mild case until Friday night. Before then, I would pause,
appreciatively but briefly, at an image of Leonardo DiCaprio. And then I
saw Titanic. Three and a half hours of a mostly-wet, fully-in-love
Leonardo sealed my fate.
Monday morning, Tripod HQ. I sit waiting for my computer to reboot. And it
suddenly strikes me: I haven't had a crush on a movie star since I've
discovered the Web. Oh my God are there treats in store for me!
But I'm a hard-working, honest employee and there's no way I'd indulge my crush on company time... unless, of course, it was for a company
assignment. And as luck would have it (this thing is clearly meant to be) I
have a Letter From Tripod due today. Hard-working and honest, but sneaky,
too. I tell you, this is a serious crush.
In the spirit of community (and that, after all, is what this company is
built on) I decide to seek out others just like me Tripod members
smitten with a certain Mr. DiCaprio. Let me tell you about a few of them.
I begin in the Film Buffs Pod
. (There's no Leonardo Pod. Yet.) I'm looking for Leo. I find Chateau
DiCaprio. "This is the castle where Prince Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio
and I, Princess Narra Celeste Baptiste Miranda, live the idyllic life."
This girl is clearly deluded! She thinks that if she writes about her
crush, it will become a Thing, it will exist, it will be more than idle
daydreaming...
Princess Narra Celeste Baptiste Miranda begs to differ: "It is important to
remember that however superhuman Leo may seem, he is basically a human
being, a very remarkable human being, who deserves respect beyond our
shallow idolatry." Damn straight, the Web is filled with shallow Leo
idolatry and I am not like that. Neither is Celeste Miranda, which is why I
left her Chateau: Most of her "rooms" are empty, including the Gallery
(photographs). What's up with that? When I've sunk to the level of
searching the Web for celebrity pics, I expect a little shallow idolatry.
By the way, Leo doesn't really live with Miranda and he's still single. I
know cause it says so: "DISCLAIMER: This website is merely a
fantasy-indulgement on the part of its author. It is in no way meant to
convey actual fact in any relationship between Leonardo DiCaprio and
Celeste Miranda. The author herself has never met or communicated with
Leonardo DiCaprio."
I move on, to Lisa's Leo Page.
Lisa starts well, winning some serious points for honesty: "There are a
million and one pages dedicated to Leo on the "information super highway"
and to tell you the truth, everything you find here, you will most likely
find it on a thousand other pages too. This page is mostly for my benefit
so that I can look at my favorite pictures of Leo any time I want." Amen
sister, but don't go dissing yourself so soon I have now bookmarked this
page so that I, too, can visit these pictures any time I want.
As any of these thousands of sites will tell you, Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio
was born to hippies: His mother felt him kick in the womb as she admired a
DiVinci painting. Very interesting in light of DiCaprio's recent role in
Titanic he's a poor boy with a good heart who sells his charcoal
portraits for a dime a piece and knows his Monet: "Look at his use of
color," he tells his One and True Love, Rose. OK, so it wasn't Titanic's
dialogue that won me over. Anyway, Leonardo didn't write the dialogue.
Next up, Ducky23's
Leo Page. I don't stay here too long because Ducky is 14 and she favors
the early pictures of Leo. You know, when he REALLY looked 14. I'm not that
sick.
I find something much more grown up: The Church of Leonardo
DiCaprio. And we're not talking a quaint village chapel here this is
a full-on cathedral, featuring the Bible (bio) and the Ten Commandments
(what it takes to be a true Leo fan I pass). And this priest of the
Church of Leonardo loves him, she really loves him. Get this: "I have heard
from several different sources that Leonardo has taken up cigar smoking...
it's sad cause in an interview I read, they asked him where he'd be in 30
years, and he said he'd like to direct, if he wasn't still acting. The sad
part is, if he doesn't stop this, he isn't going to be doing ANYTHING but
lying in a coffin, in 30 years."
Anyway, I gotta stop. My monitor's all fogged up. In case you're wondering,
here's a summary of my search:
- Full name: Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (Yes! His real name. A very good
sign.)
- Birthdate: November 11, 1974 (Ah, thank God. He's legal. I'm not
sick.)
- Home: Hollywood, CA (Duty calls.)
- Height/Weight: 6 foot, 140 lbs (Heavier than me. Also good.)
- Hair: Blond
- Eyes: Blue or green, depending on what he's wearing.
- Favorite Food: Pasta
- Favorite Drink: Lemonade
- Favorite Actors: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Jack Nicholson
- Favorite Actress: Meg Ryan (Ugh. Oh well.)
- Favorite Colors: Purple, Green, and Black
- Drives: Silver BMW Coupe
- Hobbies: Basketball, fashion, collecting baseball and basketball cards.
- Perfect girl: Sweet, funny, independent, and slightly outrageous! (You want
outrageous? I can do outrageous.)
And that's it, really. I was hoping maybe I'd find out he's gay, or has a
weird guinea pig fetish. That would help. No such luck. ("FAQ: Is Leo
gay? No. No. No. No. No.") As far as the Information Superhighway is
concerned, Leonardo Dicaprio is an interesting, normal, intelligent actor
who turned down the chance to play Batman's Robin (See? he's REALLY not
gay). Swoon.
So what if he still lives with his mother?
Emma (1/9/98)
Read more "Letters from Tripod" in the archive.
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