Justin Timberlake and Other ADD Celebrities

Base, Common and Popular

The news that Justin Timberlake joined the partnership that bought Myspace should not raise eyebrows, given his relentless nature. After all, Justin played a web entrepreneur in last year's The Social Network, so it would would only stand to reason he would be a web entrepreneur this year.

Once Justin was a just another member of a boy band who went solo. His album Justified went multi-platinum. The normal trajectory for pop stars is to keep singing, or transition into acting, or to shack up with an A-list actress or model, or just live it up in a drug-induced haze with questionable companions who spend the last checks

Except for the drugs, Mr. Timberlake conformed initially to expectations. He costarred in the youth drama, Alpha Dog, which appealed to his demographic. He had relationships with some of the most famous women in the world, from Britney Spears and Cameron Diaz. At first his metamorphosis was not that unusual, sort of like say, a Mark Wahlberg, who has become more famous for his film acting than for his earlier musical career.

But that is where the ADD comes in. Music was not enough. Films were not enough. Television, with its opportunities to wander off-script appealed to Mr. Timberlake. After hosting Saturday Night Live, Justin Timberlake made some skits with Comedian Andy Samberg, that showcased his wild and raunchy sense of humor. Justin continued to appear on Saturday Night Live skits, even guesting as a dancer with pop Diva Beyonce in a mock version of her hit "Single Ladies."

Clearly the one-time pop-star wanted all along to be a comic, and he largely succeeded in revealing his penchant for yucks. He further showed it off in his commercials for Sony, which sometimes bordered on the surreal.

But it seems, it was never enough for Mr. Timberlake. Not satisfied, Mr. Timberlake lobbied hard for the role of Sean Parker in the movie, The Social Network. To an extent, the role was an expanded version of Timberlake's earlier roles, but he wanted to make it clear in Hollywood that he intended to be an A-List Actor as well.

This leads us to the MySpace deal. Perhaps Mr. Timberlake was inspired by another actor/comedian/producer/ technology mogul: Ashton Kutcher. Mr. Kutcher came the other way, from television into films. He was the break-out star on the sitcom That 70s Show. But one could see that he was soon bored. Even before Mr. Kutcher left the show, he starred in sometimes cheesy, sometimes cool film comedies (Oddly enough, both he and Justin Timberlake have costarred with Cameron Diaz.). He also made a series of aggressive ads featuring him for NIkon cameras.

But as with Mr. Timberlake, it wasn't enough. Around the same time, he decided to produce his own irreverent TV show for MTV called Punk'd. This was millennial update of traditional celebrity practical joke shows. Interestingly enough, Justin Timberlake was the the first celebrity to "get punked."

He continued to produce of other television shows, such as "Beauty And The Geek," but this was only preparation for more. He became so fascinated with blogging and social networking that he began to produce his own web-based shorts, sponsored by major corporations. They were irreverent like his Punk'd show, but the sponsors involved proved this was serious business. In the meantime, he made a highly publicized push to become the first individual with over a million Twitter followers, thus becoming "The King of Twitter."

Whew--I'm tired just writing about the life of these guys. On some level, one must admire their superhuman ambition and success. On the other hand, one wonders: do they ever just lie on a bed and actually fall asleep?

New York July 1, 2011

Author's Disclaimer: Attention-Deficit Disorder is a real condition. The preceding piece speculated about the restlessness of some famous people, but does not purport to represent, let alone malign persons who actually suffer from ADD or ADHD.

Sources:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/technology/la-fi-timberlake-myspace-20110701,0,791177.story

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2009/04/19/ashton_kutcher_is_the_king_of_twitter