Wild Horses of Mongolia with Julia Roberts:
I am so impressed with Julia Roberts, I had her totally pegged wrong. Mind you, I can't stand Julia Roberts, the actress. I wanted to see Mona Lisa Smile because Maggie Gyllenhaal *drool* was in it (not to mention Kirsten Dunst *faint*), but then ended up not seeing it because Julia Roberts so supremely annoys me on screen. But I just saw a PBS documentary with Julia Roberts in Mongolia of all places, and it took me a while to realize it was her, and even longer to convince myself it was her until she finally mentioned someone calling her "Julia".

It's hard to imagine a pampered Hollywood big shot star being subjected to the conditions she was, and she handled herself without being jaded, or trying to be witty and flippant (read obnoxious) because of her celebrity. She was very down-to-earth and right in the moment with an open heart and open mind. She was nonplussed upon realizing peeing and pooping take place wherever on the Mongolian plains, she got right into milking mares without embarassing all of America by being squeamish and incompetent, and she was matter-of-fact when she got horse poop on her jeans. It was as unglamorous a gig as any agent could have dished out for her. It was harsh. The living conditions and the climate were all harsh. It wasn't some exotic or cool cred-op to put on her resume.

I felt it showed a lot about her character, I think it was genuine. It wasn't a dare or a self-imposed challenge that she was seeing if she could make it through. She wasn't making the best of a temporary, inconvenient career situation, trying to prove that she could still be down with the ordinary people. She was charming, but only to the people, not to the camera. When it was just her and the camera, she was pretty plain, almost monotone. She genuinely loves horses, it showed that she genuinely loves children, and it looked like she really put herself into the situation without constantly letting it be known that she was an outsider. I think this was the first time I've seen her and thought of her as beautiful.

Of course, just by writing about her in this way shows the different standard to which we contemplate our celebrities. If it was just some ordinary person, I might write about the horses, or Mongolia, but no, here I am writing about Julia Roberts.