The Arts Beat
By KateLynn Savidan
Dear Readers: I must confess. I am a semi-recovered teenybopper. About ten years ago, my room was plastered with posters of Corey Feldman and Corey Haim and I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation religiously to drool over Ensign Wesley Crusher.
It seemed, for a while, that the whole teenybopper-idol thing died with the 1980s. And then along came TITANIC and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Or as I like to call him, “my boyfriend.”
Juvenile, yes, but I am not alone. Millions of young girls (and even older women!) around the world have a ‘thing’ for Leonardo and it doesn’t look like the obsession will end any time soon.
I like to tell people I liked him WAY before he became famous, when he played Luke the homeless kid on the ratings-starved sitcom Growing Pains. But I suppose thousands of other Leo fans say the same thing.
His recent role as Jack Dawson in the super-blockbuster TITANIC has launched his career and his star-status to the moon and now everybody is jumping on the “I love Leo” rocketship. It’s now so bad that last year he was mobbed by a pack of 13-year-old girls at the Louvre while in Paris filming his new film, The Man in the Iron Mask.
I went to see The Man in the Iron Mask with Jaya Dixit and Niki Bartl, both 14. The girls were pretty blasé about the whole Leo thing when I talked to them, but I know for a fact Jaya — my friend’s sister — screamed out loud when she found out I was taking her to see it. Whether they admit it or not, they think he’s a “hottie.”
After the movie, they talked about Leo’s evil King Louis character.
“He’s a good actor. It’s really hard to hate him, especially when he’s so hot.”
“Yeah. Was it just me or did his face seem fat?”
I have to agree with them. Leo was great as the evil Louis and the good Philippe, despite bad hair and a fatter-than-usual face.
When I confessed to my ‘small’ Leo passion, Jaya and Niki comforted me.
“Well, at least you have a chance. He’s only a year older than you, compared to those 13-year-olds.”
It really kicked in then: I liked someone who was adored by millions of 12 to 13-year-olds.
It has been a long time since I was a teenybopper, but I think I can still pull it off. I wonder what Leo will look like in 10 years? Where can I buy a subscription to Teen Beat?