Amy Adams & Other Hollywood Stars Who Prove Kind Is The New Mean

Hollywood starlets and celebs, through the ages and through all periods, have been known to exhibit diva-like, princess-y behavior. It sort of goes with the territory, but there have been plenty of ladies who have taken things to extreme (and brutal) levels. Throwing epic temper tantrums. Hurling bedazzled cell phones at assistants. Denying autographs for fans. Flashing those lady parts for all the world to see, due to the curious decision to forego panties while embarking on a night of partying.

Lots of celebs sound like dragons to work with and to work for, or to even be around. But lately, we've noticed a new, surprising and applause-worthy trend. Kind and classy behavor is the new diva move; kind is the new "mean" when it comes to celeb actions toward commonfolk.

Celebrity Starlet Circa 2014 is kind. She's considerate. She puts others before herself. She is — get this! — nice. She wears her undies. She is happy to spend time with fans and the rest of us. She is, essentially, a do-gooder.

Want proof?

Amy Adams is a perfect example of this new trend of Hollywood's leading ladies being nicer, cooler and more like you and I than their predecessors. The Oscar-nominated actress grabbed headlines last week when she gave up her first class seat on a flight from Detroit to L.A. to a solider on board her flight. She swapped seats with him, thus occupying his coach seat and offering him a much more comfortable flight. And in true sweetheart fashion, Adams spoke out about all the press her action got, saying that she didn't give up her seat to call attention to herself but to call attention to our troops and servicemen and servicewomen. How rad, right?

She is not the only famous Amy to do something so rad. Earlier this year, funny gal and Tina Fey BFF Amy Poehler gave up her first class seat on a cross-country flight to a woman who had her hands full with a newborn. As the mother of two kids, Poehler knows that toting an infant is tough and that it's amplified when manuevering on an aircraft, so she happily offered her seat to the new mommy. Amy P. is aces, indeed!

There are other majorly cool and selfless celeb moves besides giving up an airplane seat, though!

The always stunning Mila Kunis accepted Marine Sergeant Scott Moore's YouTube-delivered invite to the 2011 Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Greenville, N.C. His clever and creative ask went viral and got Kunis' attention and it spawned tons of copycat invites, to things like other military events, proms and more, from regular guys and gals to celebs. But Kunis was infinitely cool since she accepted and attended. In most of these cases, the celebs decline due to scheduling conflicts, but Kunis got gussied up to go! Yay, Mila Kunis!

Then there is Taylor Swift, who is often seen visiting her sick fans in the hospital. Once, she committed to a few hours in a sick ward and ended up staying an entire day, sitting with, talking to and inspiring these children in need. T. Swizzle was also invited to prom by a fan with cancer in 2012, via a social media campaign that ended up on the singer's radar. Swift could not make it due to her schedule, but instead of politely declining and sending some signed merch, she flipped the script and invited him to be her date to the ACMs, one of the country music awards shows! His illness prevented him from being her date, but Swift was ready to have him on her arm and we lurve her for that.

We don't even need to drift into Angelina Jolie territory to further prove the concept that today's crop of A-listers aren't always domineering, spoiled, used-to-getting-whatever-they-want brats who stomp around and pitch fits when things don't go their way. Sure, Angie is practically canonized for her human rights work, but despite her fame, family and insanely unfair physical gifts, she still conducts herself in a very "real mom" fashion. 

While it's not as sexy or as fun to report on a celeb opting to sit in coach so that a regular person or military personnel can enjoy a roomier first-class seat as it is to report on a celeb losing her mind on some unsuspecting patron who happened upon her path in a nightclub, it's so refreshing to see Adams, Poehler, Kunis and Jolie, among many others, shift the focus from the late nights in the clubs, those "going commando" moments and other offensive acts to heartwarming ones. The Paris Hiltons, Lindsay Lohans and other ladies behaving badly of the world have been replaced. 

In these cases, we are reminded that despite their talent for entertaining us, if you strip away all the Hollywood pretense and bullshit, celebs and starlets are still human beings that we don't need to and shouldn't deify. But we should exalt them when they are do-gooders as often as we "ooh" and "aah" when they committ embarassing offenses.