Ryan Gosling Saves Woman from Car Accident (But We Shouldn't Care)

There's a certain mystique to Ryan Gosling that, when combined with his good looks and previous role in "The Notebook," makes him a heartthrob to be reckoned with. But could that mysterious air be hiding a big secret, like the fact that Ryan Gosling is actually a vigilante superhero?

We've seen Gosling attempt to break up a street fight in the past, but his latest reported act of heroism goes beyond that. Gosling reportedly saved British journalist Laurie Penny from being hit by an oncoming car in New York city, pulling her back to the safety of the sidewalk and presumably preventing a pretty nasty bruise at the very least.

Here's the twist, though: almost immediately after Penny tweeted about the incident, she was beseiged with media requests, and saw the story go viral. Following that, she wrote an op-ed piece for Gawker titled "Ryan Gosling Saved Me From a Speeding Car But There's War In the Middle East So Everyone Calm Down."

It seems the whole incident has gotten a bit blown out of proportion for Penny, who objects not only to how Americans "hyperventilate about the most everyday happenings as if they are the most important thing in the world," but also to how she has been reduced to a "ditzy damsel in distress" in the story.

I can't speak to the damsel part, but let me put things in a way that Ms. Penny might be able to relate to: celebrities are America's royal family. We remember quite well how the entire world, England especially, went nuts over the William and Kate wedding. In fact, here's a recent headline from the UK publication Daily Mail: "No frills Wills and Kate: Duke and Duchess fly easyJet to French Alps for skiing holiday."

Riveting stuff, Will and Kate flying a budget airline for their vacation, isn't it? What's that you were saying about war in the Middle East?

I'm not saying we shouldn't be focusing on Middle East conflict, mass murder from brutal dictators in Africa, the war on women and reproductive health in America, or the Greek financial crisis. But maybe, when a fun story like this comes along, we should be able to tell it, forget about all of that other crap for a second, and wonder if Ryan Gosling has a Batcave and dresses in spandex at night.

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