Oh, Celebrities, don’t we love them? We watch them, hear them, see them and read about them everywhere we go. It’s physically impossible to go about your day without discovering the latest celebrity scandal or who broke up with who. Although the average Joe doesn’t tend to keep up with the Kardashians on the regular basis like the common fan girl, everyone is guilty of taking a degree of interest into a certain famous persons life and passing their fair share of judgement, whether negatively or not. But have you ever wondered why you’re so curious about a random strangers whereabouts or affairs? How has pop cultured evolved into a multi-billion dollar business in a few short years? So much so that an entire genre of TV show can be created solely based on the fact that human beings are nosy and just want to know what other people doing, but why?
It’s hard to write about the life of the famous when you are not famous yourself. It feels like a world away from where I am in my small bedroom in West Country, England. I, myself, am fascinated by the likes of Beyoncé and Kanye West. Definitely because I enjoy their music, but surely music can’t be my only motivation for screaming bloody murder whenever I’m within the same time zone as them? But then one night I got to thinking about my life and what makes me any different to Selena Gomez or Ariana Grande. I realised it’s not the people themselves but the concept that has been shoved in my face ever since I learnt to read and write. Almost every teen movie ever in the 00’s had the main protagonist who “dreams of being a famous rock star!” or “performing to millions of adoring fans.” From a very young age we are taught that the ultimate success in life is to be rich and famous, sun bathing in our twelve bedroom mansions whilst sipping on freshly squeezed lemonade. Because this idea has long been set up for us we instantly place celebrities on an extremely high pedestal and they are untouchable. We, as the public, are almost using them to play out the dream that, unfortunately, most of us will never reach. This also explains why a lot of people (especially once they reach their mid forties) are very unsatisfied with their lives thus far because society teaches us that we can’t be really happy until we obtain that vigorous level of fame and wealth.
Once you begin to grasp this concept it quickly becomes very sad to think about. Perhaps this is why famous people receive such waves of backlash throughout their career about one thing or another, particularly teen celebrities. I’m talking about the Justin Biebers of the industry, such events as when he peed in a mop bucket or spit off a balcony. Although these are grotesque things to be doing, they are ultimately harmless in the grand scheme of things and they did not affect my life in any shape or form, whatsoever. Nor did it affect anybody else’s life or family, so why did we care so damn much? Here’s my theory. I think as soon as a famous person, such as Justin Bieber, makes a mistake (or just does something that any other person his age is doing) it breaks the untouchable bubble. The idea that Justin Bieber, baby hit maker Justin Bieber, could do anything wrong is outrageous. He’s meant to be the puppet I’m playing out my dream through, he can’t mess up! When a celebrity reveals themselves to be *gasps*a human being, it shatters the imaginary wall separating the famous from the non-famous, and might just possibly show that the incubus of fame and wealth equating to eternal happiness isn’t real, and what we’ve all internally been fantasising about isn’t there, and that can be heart breaking.
Enough celebrities in our lifetime have told us that fame isn’t everything. It’s the connections we make with other people, and the lives we touch that really matter. Beauty fades, money burns and we all die inevitably. But long lasting relationships, memories and the change we bring to the world will last forever, whether if it’s for millions of fans or our family and friends.
