I’ve got to say, even though I think athletes and movie stars are paid way too much, I don’t think they are overpaid. At least, not insofar as their leagues and markets are concerned. Think about it, if people are willing to pay for a movie or sports ticket, then the owners can pay them whatever they want. I personally refuse to pay for sports tickets, and generally only go to movies on Tuesday (don’t know if they do this elsewhere, but here in Canada Tuesdays are a bit cheaper for movies - in Ottawa it’s usually $7 or 8 instead of $10), but other people do it, and so long as the league is making money they will keep paying those players whatever it takes. Those market forces that keep getting mentioned here and all.
Now maybe if people stopped going to games (I’m focussing more on sports because I don’t think a $10 movie ticket compares to an $80-for-nosebleed-section sports event seat) then maybe the players’ salaries will start to come down (see NHL current situation). But the minute some idiot (no one here, just a general example) complains about players’ salaries while sitting in the stands that his $80+ bought access to and downing his $7 beer, I think one should be allowed to slap him across the jaw good and hard for hipocracy. Players, and even movie stars, are paid what the market will bear, because as much as we complain about it, people are still lining up in droves to watch them perform.