Any way, I digress a little from the point of this article which is to discuss Hayden Panettiere who played the character Beth Cooper. Every once in a while, you watch someone on screen who you’ve never seen before, and think, “Wow, what an amazing actor, and why haven’t I heard of you before.” Hayden Panettiere played just such a part in this movie, and I don’t think it would have been anywhere near as good if another actress had been cast in the role. Hayden Panettiere was really quite amazing in the part. I’m not sure what other movies she’s been in, but I’m sure after this movie she will be in a lot more down the road. The only other thing I noticed her in lately was a skin care commercial. I’m sure I’ve seen the commercial, but just didn’t realize the girl in it was such an accomplished actress.

I think what I liked about how she played the part, was that she made the character so real. I know a large part character creation has to do with the writers, and to some extent the director, but Hayden Panettiere really carried the role off her. I also think, that a large part of the character creation process comes from the actors themselves, and I have to believe that was the case here. How Hayden Panettiere does in future roles will confirm or deny the validity of my belief, but I’m not too concerned.

I like it when teenage angst movies throw in a little bit of eighties era music classics. The use of Beth by Kiss was a pretty easy fit for this movie, kind of ironic for me as well. I was just listening to an end of the year 70′s top music countdown when Beth came on the radio. My daughter was in the car, and I told her it was Gene Simmons from the Family Jewels playing the song. Then, we watched that movie, and there it was again. Cool huh?

Services like Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace are the ultimate gossip mongering tools. Sometimes, I don’t think they should be called social media, I think they should be called GossipMedia. That’s really what they come down to. It’s kind of like all those chatty clicks at school on steroids. What I find interesting about all this now is, that it’s really being driven by the average person. For years there’s been the argument, that paparazzi and tabloid reports weren’t the real monsters, but the people who buy their stuff. It’s an interesting argument, but one that’s mostly academic until you can actually test it.

Well, the testing has now become reality. When anybody can have a blog, and anybody can post pictures, and anyone can become a YouTube star by posting videos, you really have to wonder who the real paparazzi are? Personally, I think that theory has proven itself. The people who were buying tabloids for years, and pretending it wasn’t them harassing the stars are the same people posting all kinds of breaking news stories, pictures and videos long before the major corporations can.

For a while the big tabloid companies I’m sure were paranoid that their jobs were on the line. But, I think nowadays, that’s all changed. They see this as an opportunity to turn every fan into a reporter or photographer with the potential to grab that million dollar photo. I wouldn’t want to be a celebrity these days. It would seem they have no where to hide any more.