Celebrities can bring awareness to cancer causes. Celebrities can attract money to cancer fundraisers. Celebrities influence our society in fashion and lifestyle trends. Whether you are one who thinks celebrities have too much influence, and wondering why there seems a global obsession with celebrity -- or you are someone who applauds the efforts of those who have risen to success in fame and fortune and take time to give back, there is no doubting celebrities have power. And even when celebrities aren't trying to make a difference, they do, by the simple fact they are a celebrity.

A news story out of Canada is reporting that young girls, inspired by fair-skinned celebrities like Australian actress Nicole Kidman, are rejecting the fashion standard that a tan makes you attractive and embracing what they are calling the pale and proud of it attitude. When it comes to reducing the rising incidence of skin cancer, this couldn't come as better news. Really good news since it is in the young where a shocking number of new skin cancer cases are being diagnosed, a trend that is fairly recent to our times.

A new painting of Tom Cruise will be sold as a limited edition print and poster to benefit Gilda's Club, an organization that provides free emotional, social and community support for people living with cancer. Gilda's Club online offers cancer resources and information on how to connect with others, as well as a Spanish-speaking version of the website for the Latino community.

Artist McKenzie, commissioned to create an original painting of Cruise for her celebrity series, calls the new work Intrepidity.

The release of the limited edition print and poster coincides with the premiere opening of Cruise's latest movie this week -- Mission Impossible 3. A portion of the profits from each of McKenzie's newest paintings have been donated to a specific charity. She said she chose Tom Cruise as the subject of her painting to benefit cancer charity because of his strength and temerity in the face of adversity. "It seems so fitting that part of the profits from the painting will go to a cancer charity where strength and fortitude seem often to be the difference between life and death." You can view more of McKenzie's art, and purchase her work, at McKenzie.

According to Max Pemberton, Tom Cruise should stick to acting and stop going around speaking as an expert on mental health. Pemberton, a mental health professional who pens The Telegraph's Trust Me I'm a Junior Doctor column, was motivated to put on his investigative journalist hat and go see for himself what Scientology had to say about depression. I know, this is a cancer-related blog and you might be wondering why I might be discussing Cruise, Scientology and depression. Wait. Wait until I tell you what Pemberton was told when he arrived at the central London Scientology headquarters. Because, as Pemberton tells it, Scientology can explain cancer too.

On arriving Pemberton was invited in for a stress test. The woman conducting the test told him he was suffering from depression caused by a family member or friend. She assured him Scientology could help. She could not tell him more unless he signed up for a course, but she did assure him that the majority of illnesses, including diabetes, cancer, schizophrenia and depression, were the result of being suppressed by other people, but this suppression could be cleared away by Scientology. Oh really? Pemberton goes on to say he learned that Scientologists believe depression and disease are best alleviated by removing the sufferer's covering of tiny disembodied souls of aliens dispersed by the Galactic Federation leader Xenu. Nah -- no way. You cannot tell me that ten million Scientologists believe this is the cause of diseases like cancer. Do they? I invite any Scientologist who might wander by here to chime in and clarify this matter. In the meantime, Pemberton's first person account of his experience at the Scientology headquarters, and the Scientology explanation for the cause of diseases including cancer  -- leaves me feeling depressed.