Should Stars on Hollywood Walk of Fame Be Replaced by Statues?

Who's your hometown celebrity? Does a famous musician or politician hail from your local neighborhood? Perhaps a best selling author, singer or actor was born just a few blocks from your childhood home. Hollywood boasts the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where fabled stars - along with hand prints and foot prints - dot the sidewalk of Grauman's Chinese Theater. It's a tradition that's brought joy to tourists for generations, but maybe a new type of attraction is in order.

Philadelphia boasts a Rocky statue. Sylvester Stallone's fictional boxer hero is immortalized in the city where the action took place for his classic motion picture. In Hong Kong, iconic Bruce Lee forever waits for an opponent to take him on, as his statue stands proudly amid the hustle and bustle of big city life.

If you ride a bus in New York City, chances are you'll find yourself at NYC's Port Authority. While getting a nice hot pretzel from a street vendor, or looking over a bus schedule, you can admire a bronze statue of the most famous bus driver on television - Ralph Kramden - portrayed by the legendary Jackie Gleason.

Hollywood is always looking for a new entertainment angle. Tinseltown tries hard at bringing new dazzle to old haunts of cinema or TV. What better way to enliven a tourist experience than to see silver screen heroes and heroines in three dimensions - short of putting 3D monitors everywhere. It does beg the question of just how popular the whole notion of everything in 3D is becoming today. Movies are now rife with 3D productions, it seems inevitable that it will be the same with everything in Hollywood. Since Hollywood feels that 3D is all the rage, maybe all the star attractions should be in bronze - the ultimate in 3D lasting quality.

Of course there's a down side. That illusory movie magic we take for granted can be shattered when we see a much more 'real thing' in person. Short or heftier performers - if commissioned artists do best for authenticity - may really disappoint fans. Physical shortcomings aside, it's also sort of weird to actually stand next to a movie hero or heroine. Just think, you may love to see Sylvester Stallone box in the ring on a movie screen, or tear up the jungle as Rambo, but when you and your wife or kids are standing next to a replica of him, the whole of his larger than life persona may never be the same again.

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