I wonder why so many people want to be famous. Do they have any idea what fame actually involves? Do they have any idea how it disrupts any form of normal life or normal friendships?
Being recognised as you walk down the street might be fun for a while but it must soon get tedious. People stare at you, follow you, make comments about you, try to talk to you. You can't just walk around in your private reverie, enjoying the scenery or the sunshine. You have to be always prepared for other people's attention. It must be a constant nuisance.
Your photo is regularly in the media, accompanied by details of your every move and activity, most of it idle gossip and rumour. Hundreds of dubious stories are circulating, mostly depicting a totally bogus person with little resemblance to the real you.
If you're interviewed for TV or the media, you'll be asked plenty of idiotic and trivial questions, like what's your favourite food or how do you stay so thin or what was your most embarrassing moment.
If you're desperate for some privacy, you have to plan it well in advance, working out how to avoid the paparazzi, keep your movements secret and stay well away from the general public.
Of course you might say this is all sour grapes, that really I'd love to be famous but I'm not, so I make out fame is horrible and not at all glamorous or fulfilling. But no, I love my anonymity. I certainly wouldn't want to be gawped at all day like an animal in the zoo.
It does seem dreadful. I wonder if the majority don’t really consider the aspect of fame when they initially set out to become an actor, author, artist, etc. Maybe if you love what you do, you just take the good with the bad.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: I think most of those who seek fame, or just happen to become famous, haven't thought through what fame would actually mean. The oppressive reality must come as quite a shock.
DeleteI wouldn't mind their money...but it's quite a price to pay, for me, anyway. But I do know people who would relish it all.
ReplyDeleteFly: But would they relish it? Have they really taken in the full implications of the fame machine? I doubt it.
DeleteI agree. I love my life... leave me in peace to enjoy it. As far as I can tell Einstein courted publicity at first, but then he felt trapped by it.
ReplyDeleteJean: I can't imagine you being world-famous! A fish out of water, for sure! Lots of celebs complain about being trapped by fame.
DeleteI'm not bothered about the fame, but I would like the fortune bit!
ReplyDeletePolly: It can be done. All those billionaires who somehow manage to avoid being well-known and just keep quietly adding to their wealth.
Deletethere are a few who have hated it enough to move out of the spotlight... Harrison Ford is one. and yet he has still managed to have some excellent films made.
ReplyDeleteso is Robert Redford... and there are others who never lived in 'Hollywood.'
I would feel the same as you do. wouldn't like it at all. it would be so hard! Never feeling left alone.
Tammy: Yes, some celebs manage to avoid the limelight and have some semblance of a private life. But it must be difficult.
DeleteNo, no, no! No fame, please. At least not one that would make people recognize me on sight. I used to have a certain amount of fame in one part of my life but since it didn't include pictures of me I was relatively safe except when attending events wearing a name tag. At least I could take off the name tag and pretty much disappear into the crowd. I would never want more than that.
ReplyDeleteLinda: That's my ideal, to disappear into the crowd. I would hate to walk across a room only to have all eyes turn towards me because I'm "that famous movie star".
DeleteI quite agree. Famous would be an awful life.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: It's not surprising so many celebs become seriously mentally unhinged and hooked on drugs or alcohol. It's such an incredibly artificial existence.
DeleteI think it'd be a pain having to be in a good mood all the time - must be a pain being caught having a swearing moment by the paps when your famous. The things we lesser mortals take for granted, eh?!
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Ms Scarlet: Very true. Any swearing or bad behaviour and it's splashed all over the front pages. No wonder so many celebs have those fake pasted-on smiles.
DeleteIt sure takes an enormous toll unless one is well balanced to begin with and so few are in that business.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
www: Unfortunately some are already mentally and emotionally fragile and the pressures of fame are just too much for them.
DeleteI watched about 30 minutes of a television program about a nightclub in New York called Studio 54 which was famous for who came. One of the owners was an introvert and a photographer mentioned how few photos he got of the gentleman. I would not enjoy fame.
ReplyDeleteAnn: I didn't know anything about Studio 54 so I googled it. Interesting story. I see that owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager were jailed and fined for skimming nearly $2.5 million in unreported income from the club's receipts. Certainly a type of fame they wouldn't enjoy!
DeleteFame is a relative term. In the business that I spent a lifetime in, I am still fairly well known despite having retired twenty years ago. People from that field still contact me for either personal or trade related matters. It all depends on the kind of relationships one builds over one's life with others.
ReplyDeleteRamana: I would say you're well-known within certain business circles, but that's not the same as being a household name all over the world with all the insanity that brings with it.
DeleteNo thank you. I value my privacy.
ReplyDeleteMary: I thought you would.
DeleteI unexpectedly had a small taste of local area fame based solely on the fact I was associated with a live audience-participation talk show at a time TV was relatively new. Somehow some people seemed to think anyone in the business was special in some way, I guess. I was rarely actually on camera since that wasn't my job, but I knew first hand what the "talent" that did appear on camera experienced. I can only imagine what national and world-wide recognition must be like -- nothing I would enjoy which is partly why I chose a web name, Joared, and didn't even use a photo for a long time since I had no idea what I was getting into starting a blog. Some subsequent other very limited writing and publishing voided the anonymity effort but it doesn't matter as there's no risk I'll be famous.
ReplyDeleteI recall leaving a comment here but it seems to have escaped into the ether. Basically, fame is not an attraction for me given I had some sight experience with it in a small part of our country years ago. I could readily see the problems that could occur though none were encountered.
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