Whats Your Bacon Number?

Ahhh the Bacon number, circa 1994.  The theory postulates that any two Hollywood actors can be connected in six steps to Kevin Bacon through his or her film roles. In this instance, Bacon is the center of the Hollywood universe. For reference, Mr. Bacon has a profile on LinkedIn.  

So let's take a look at some interesting connections. The Bacon number between Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon is 1 for they played alongside one other in the movie Mystic River in 2003. Mr. Penn does not appear to have a profile on LinkedIn. 

Remember when Sean Penn used to act? I love it when people become successful in one field, make a bunch of money then declare themselves something else. In this case, Penn has become an activist and reporter for Rolling Stone. He recently chose to run down famed billionaire and bad guy, El Chappo, for an interview about the drug war.  

I mean really?

Did Rolling Stone actually think this guy had an open mind about discussing this in any objective way with Penn? Or, vice versa? 

El Chappo is responsible for killing tens of thousands of people to deal drugs.

That’s real commitment!

I guess it is a good thing there are millions of guns sloshing around America. Guns overflow into Mexico and make their way into the wrong hands to kill the good guys to keep the drugs flowing. 

The connector to El Chappo was actress Kate del Castillo who, coincidently, has a Bacon number of 2. She appeared in Julia in 2008 with Jake Koenig, who happened to be in, The Air I Breathe, in 2007 with Kevin Bacon. She also has a profile on LinkedIn. 

So the connections are starting to come together. 

The Mexican authorities are embarrassed Penn found El Chappo before they did, he was reportedly captured by the Mexican authorities months later and far, far away from where he met with our hero. This reminds me of the movie Shrek. By the way, Mike Meyers has a Bacon number of 3. He also has a LinkedIn profile.

Ironically, El Chappo does not have a LinkedIn profile despite being a hell of a businessman. He is worth billions of dollars, makes the Forbes' list of the World's Most Powerful People but has no LinkedIn Profile or Bacon number either. I guess this is because he is distrustful of technology and is not a real actor.

Upon reflection, he may just be the most prolific actor and creator of stories movies will be made for years to come. Note: I chose not to type his real name into LinkedIn as I feared my fingers would melt and the Feds would show up at my door. 

I thought at one time I saw Mr. Penn on Linkedin. Perhaps not, possibly I was hungover from my ability to follow Barack Obama on the platform.

So the ultimate question then becomes, why doesn't Actor/Activist/Superhero Sean Penn have a LinkedIn profile? 

Here is my theory: after learning of the recent scandal that is LinkedIn notifications, Mr. Penn likely deleted his profile or chose not to have one because he knew he couldn't depend on the platform for any kind of consistent communication. After all, when globetrotting in your superhero suit to interview the world’s biggest bad guy, you need dependable communication devices and platforms that are indeed, mission critical.

Penn was smart enough to know he could not depend on LinkedIn to deliver his messages to Ms. Del Castillo and chose not to be on LinkedIn. That is perhaps the only good decision Mr. Penn would have made in this whole debacle. 

In the end, let the police do their work, and leave the writing to the journalists to tell the stories so that real actors can portray them to entertain us.  

My best, Chris