When Will I Be Famous.....

I have experienced it to a smaller degree. And I would hate to experience it on a larger scale.

My parents were pastors. They started out as (assistant and one of many) pastors in a VERY large Tx church (thousands of members). Everyone in the church knew them, obviously. Therefore, everyone knew me (and my brothers). We lived in a glass house. And I hated it.

He then took over a smaller church (400 people) as the Sr. Pastor. Again, lived in a glass house. All eyes on us...our every move. We were judged just like we all sit and judge celebrities. It sucked. We were reminded that even outside of church, members would still see us about town. So, we were reminded that our every move was watched and judged 24/7 (just like celebrities).

I think all those people who want fame, just dont realize what a horrible life that can create for you. You would think that Britney Spears would be prime example of what fame does.


And with that said....I believe it all starts at home. If children are raised in stable, loving, supportive environments...they have a better chance of not falling into the "when will i be famous" rut.

Great topic!

[edit on 6-12-2007 by greeneyedleo]

reply to post by greeneyedleo


A well known Pastoral family can certainly get the same treatment as more main stream celebrities. Just a different set of people watching you.

I used to attend a church in South Florida that had a pretty well known Pastor. When I started going there the attendance was about 8,000 and when I left it was over 12,000.

Another facet is even in the large churches, clicks form and people want to be known and seen as being "in" with the beautiful, popular church crowd. As much as the Senior Pastor talked against the things that were affecting the body negatively it didn't seem to help. I always thought I was there for God and the games just didn't set right. I prefer the smaller churches of less than 300 or so.

They will claim to not treat the Pastor like he is more than human but then turn around and do it.

Couch potatoes are to blame, by all standards society as become very very lazy.

Jade Goody is a perfect example, by no means a shining light and probably one of the bluntest tools in the box, nothing going for her until BB (Big Brother)

She had her 15 mins of fame and then some, all generated by cheepskate media broadcasters who know they have a captive audience (couch potatoes) who will watch any old drivel.

Go into any newsagents and you will see at least 20 gloss mags (for women mainly) with the same old trotted out "celebs" doing their latest thing, i.e. a leg wax or my boyfriend did the dirty on me etc, just look at the show we had in the UK with Jordan (I had a massive boob job) and Peter Andre (couldn't sing for toffee)............cringe cringe cringe.

40 years back celebrities used to be called actors or actresses and the reason why was because they could act, true entertainers not like the so called celebrities of today.

BAH

Sorry for the rant, I guess a nerve was touched.

Wolfie

reply to post by budski


This Cult of Celebrity you call it, truely is a disease. One of many that this generation are especially vulnerable to. People emulate what that view as success in hopes of achieving a similar end. It's pitiful.

Nothing in life can be more important than popularity. If you're well known, you get attention, you get money, influence, cheap women(or men if you prefer). Life is yours for the taking.

However, we need to look at the big picture. Throughout history, well before modern media, people have been doing some outlandish things, for no real reason at all.

The rise of modern religion, for example, without even seeing the people the old books talk about, with numerous changes in what his divinely permitted over the centuries, people remain captivated. Not to knock anyone's religion.

Then there are cults designed specifically around the idea of opposing the mainstream beliefs.

How about the people who nail themselves to a cross every good Friday in the Philipines?

Every group has some quirks about them. You cannot tell me children did not play as warriors in ancient times. Yet, our children do the exact same, only with video games. Yet people say this influences the way our children turn out.

Rather than looking at all of this through a microcosm of "Fame" or "Celebrity" we need to look at "emulation." People emulate traits that they find appealing. Whether those traits are positive or not. Some kids want to be strong, and atheltic so they look up to sports heroes. Some look up to those in power, so they run for class president, or local office as they grow up.

Today's obsession is fame. You hit it right on the button. Along with that, people aspire to look like the famous, they get surgery to look like others(One fellow I saw recently had a great deal of work down so that he looked like Michael Jackson.)

Now, the whole idea behind emulation, is people believe the idol they are projecting their devotion on to has something fundamentally different, and therefore disrable that they do not have. It is a belief in "LACK."

I define lack as the origin of evil. It puts up walls between us, creating seperation. When a man kills another man, he does so because he lacks exciteemnet, or he lacks pleasure, or he lacks vengeance, or he lacks honor that he will recieve from the killing.

When a man steals, he steals because he lacks money, or something that may be obtained by it.

When people base their decisions off of lack, as opposed to self-improvement, they are not taking responsibility for transforming their lives. They are not doing as nature designed them to. When you feel that you have everything you need, you just need to take the steps to get there, you are acting in a creative attitude. This attitude has more than once changed the world. Many a great ruler, or famous artist, or influential scholar started somewhere, without that which they became famous for. Yet, they attained it. They looked inside, and found the resources to make their dream come true.

Everything we aspire to achieve, and move towards, has a cost. Now, getting back to the subject of this thread, these youths aspire to be famous. They aspire to attain that which they lack, freedom, fun, excitement. The quickest and easiest way to attain celebrity is to walk down the road of infamy.

It is always a shame when we look externally for that which we desire. When we do this, it can only lead to ruin. When you determine what you want, and start taking action towards it, opportunities may come up as if by magic to help your goal. Perhaps you make friends with a guy who has a cousin that is a producer.

However, rather than put the work in to achieve excellence in one area that they may be known for, they instead, want the "Paris Hilton" approach of being famous for fame's sake. As was mentioned previously, today's "reality" tv is anything but. We do not live in mansions, ordrive fancy cars, or go on contests. We are simply watching ordinary people behaive in unusual situations. However, through this new venue, a number have achieved star status, unfortunately, few hold on to the shimmer of flashing cameras. The ones who do have a true talent, the others are quickly forgotten by most people, and become cult icons by the fans who locked on to their personalities and foudn a sort of resonance.

The main issue here is a belief in lack. This belief in lack has caused every war. (We lack freedom, we lack land, we lack access to Heaven, we lack power). On a miniature scale, this is what is happening to our youth. They lack stardom, and so their lives are boring and without meaning. They do not know how to enjoy what they have, nor are they willing to go through the often tedious process of forging an ability and doing the legwork to become reknown for it.

This is truely a sad state of affairs, however, it is no different than what has occured in any other era. We are simply more aware of it, and we are disgusted by what we see. But there are others who are dazzled by the glitz and glamour and would cast all they have away for a chance to be someone else. The song "RockStar" by Nickelback is an anthem for this regretable mindset.

Perhaps if an emphasis was put on developing talent, and the hard work involved, if we made that road more desirable, maybe then, we could be a the nail in the coffin of Lack's newest Mask; Fame for Celebrity's Sake.

These are very good points.

I noticed that people, every day, average people have become much more ego centric and vane.

Has anyone noticed that most people today act like characters from TV or the movies? What I mean is most people take their cue from these media; their humor, "catch phrases", clothing and what we think is cool. We look to movies and TV shows to show us how to act and what's important.

I think this is a real problem in the US. I noticed over the years we see less and less of the people I refer to as "characters" people who had real original personalities. There used to be a lot more of these people, I don't know of any these days. Where do they go?

These days there seems to be much more conformity of personalties, or persona.

My theory is that now, there is too much pressure for people to act like TV or movie characters. What I mean is, people have a lot to risk (being rejected or though of as weird), if they reject this conformity. Regular people today have adopted the "persona's" of their hero's.

Not only that, but many people are angry, or at least very disappointed with life. They see "MTV Cribs" and many other shows that show all of the excesses of their hero's. These shows would make any feel like a loser, after seeing some rapper's fleet of fine automobiles and mansions.

There are a lot of shows on TV now that are all about egocentricity, greed and extreme vanity. Makes any regular person feel inadequate.

We see fame, by any means as a good thing.


[edit on 6-12-2007 by Electro38]

[edit on 6-12-2007 by Electro38]

I don't disagree directly with what people are asserting in this thread. However, I don't think Hawkins' case is really relevant. I tried to find the whole suicide note, but it doesn't look like that evidence has been made public however.
From the news stories I've read, he wrote "now I'll be famous;" But police believe the attack was unprovoked, leading me to believe that they don't consider the motivation a lust for fame.
The line sounds to me like hopeless sarcasm. He was kicked out of his house at 17 and not long before the attack lost his job and his girlfriend. His actions seem driven by depression, apathy, low self-esteem and hopelessness; not unfulfilled dreams of fame.

Like I said at first, however, I agree with the OPs overwhelming disgust at the "15-minutes of fame" phenomenon and idolizing of pop-culture icons, and that unchecked adoration can lead people to do some bewildering things. This particular instance, however, doesn't seem to fit that description.

Yes yes yes.
My mother is a ballet teacher, having to deal with mothers and students. She's always saying how crazy it is these days, she has to tip toe around and if she even politely tells a child to settle down in class she'll get a blasting from their parents. You can't tell children they're wrong these days.

On top of that I agree, I hate that fame/fortune can come so easily to those who haven't worked for it. It's always bugged me.

Originally posted by Nutrients
His actions seem driven by depression, apathy, low self-esteem and hopelessness; not unfulfilled dreams of fame.

You are right there but his actions IMO were in part driven by what he perceived as martyrism in media coverage during similar situations of the past. Not that that is what the media was trying to convey but if you have a predisposition to act out in such a manner you are going to perceive things in a slanted manner. In fact I'm sure he probably had some sort of mental issues before any of this ever took place.

As for the "15 minutes" scenario, I think it is much more prevalent these days because more and more people are looking to be a part of something and find no comfort in who they are. I believe this to be largely based on how the media presents the famous. Plus the fact that we are so inundated with this stuff now than ever before makes it hard to avoid even for the strong minded.

People follow the biggest, most popular crowd, even if it leads off a cliff. In fact, sadly enough I would wager that if Miley Cyrus (

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I think one of the worst show that kids can watch is a show on MTV called my sweet 16 birthday or something like that. It shows just how bad our society is really getting. The one I saw this girl was having a sweet 16 birthday that was costing in the tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars and she had gotten a brand new BMW and had a fit because it was the wrong color. I wonder what the kids think when they watch that crap.

reply to post by UScitizen


I can't even stomach shows like that. In fact just thinking about those spoiled...

First time I ever used this smiley.

Another one is the real housewives of orange county. In one episode a mom aged about 47 or so goes to surprise her son at college and shows up with a case of beer and starts to party with the 18 to 20 yr olds. I ask you, is this a parent? I'm 45 and never even considered drinking an alcoholic beverage in the presence of my parents, nor would I even have considered it! Not that I couldn't have as an adult but it would have just felt funny to me. I had/have too much respect for them to do anything that would even resemble an uncomfortable situation. You can't respect a parent that tries to be your buddy or drinking partner. Not saying it's bad to drink in front of your parents but you know what I mean.

Another show is that Kardashian debacle. The mother pushes her daughter to pose nude for playboy. Not that she needed pushed because she put on a pitiful resistance. Then everything Bruce Jenner says is like he's not even there because they all just go behind his back and lie to him anyway. Then again what goes around with old Bruce who is famous for cheating on wives. Seems the children are running the house and the mother is living thru them.

Pitifully it only takes one episode of these shows to see all the disfunctionality.

I did read today where the shooter was getting some sort of counselling but here's how bad it gets. One of his friends (a girl) was speaking to the media and has gotten 2 death threats already from other friends of the dead shooter. This is unbelievable!

What is happening to this country!!!!!!!

Totally agree man..

TV is simply a device to keep the masses thinking of some thing rather than what is really on in the world. Why do you think they call it programming!

90% of what is on the TV is total BS and yet the masses lap it up and believe everything they watch.

Drones, all of them...

Sad but True...

While I generally agree with most of the opinions expressed in this thread, I’d like to point out that it’s possible to want to be famous and be a good person. My example is Tony Romo, QB of the Dallas Cowboys. He’s admitted to wanting to be famous when younger, but he’s done it in the right way, by achieving his goals rather than being a media whore like Paris Hilton literally is. Sure he’s having his dalliances with the famous girls that made his pants go crazy when younger, but he’s a fa - uh, a smart feller, and I think he’ll realize his mistake there in time. So I guess my point is that ambition to fame can be a good thing, if done the right way.

reply to post by resistor


How bout them Cowboys!?!

To jump back into the discussion: Regardless of the position taken in the broader argument, most people seem to have so much venom for those who 'made it big'; doubly so if the fame is not 'earned'.

I have to ask the obvious question...

Who cares?

It does make me sad when I see the way things are heading on either side of the Atlantic these days. Kids obsessed with fame for fames sake, with no idea what it actually means on a personal level. I sure as hell wouldn't want to be followed and harased every damn day of my life. Fame? You can keep it to be honest as I'd rather just be 'me'.

But you see there's the rub... If like me you reject the whole ludcrious idea of 'the pursuit of fame' and refuse to follow the heard, then you can get treated like some sort of a lunatic for daring to take a different path to the norm. Having a proper direction in life seems to have totally by passed a lot of people these days for some reason, probably because they have alledged reality TV shows rammed down their throats almost every night. What ever happened to people working hard to get to the top of their tree? What ever happened to 'talent'?

Lets face is and be blunt, most people simply do not have the drive or talent to be 'famous'. By fame I do not mean those famous for being famous, but rather people who have achieved something with their lives, sometimes at great personal cost. The populous are slowly being brainwashed that 'anyone can be famous' which is a load of horse manure. Most people are (again to be blunt) meant to be the 'cogs in the wheel of life', and only a few get to be the drivers.

I don't see a person who may be famous as 'blessed', but rather as cursed as badly as a guy with an albatross around his neck. I'm personally very happy with who I am, and have no intention of following the crowd into the madness that is the pursuit of fame for fames sake. Why would I want to enter a madhouse on purpose?!

Wayne...

Originally posted by spines
To jump back into the discussion: Regardless of the position taken in the broader argument, most people seem to have so much venom for those who 'made it big'; doubly so if the fame is not 'earned'.

I have to ask the obvious question...

Who cares?

I really don't think that has anything to do with what we are discussing and I don't think anyone that has posted here is in any way jealous of anyone.

I would respectfully ask you to reread the thread.

Of course if you are making a general observation on society then you may have a point...to some extent.

Originally posted by jbondo
reply to post by resistor

 

How bout them Cowboys!?!

I must question your question mark, otherwise

Originally posted by spines
I have to ask the obvious question...
Who cares?

Why, Ryan Seacrest of course!

reply to post by resistor


Sorry to go slightly of thread, but Tony Romo certainly does look like the clean living all American boy come good, good look to him and lets hope for a few years of Cowboys domination to come

Wolfie

reply to post by Wolfie_UK


I can't imagine a better high jacking of a thread than to talk about Romo and the 'Boys! This is the most likeable team we've had in a long time, even TO is behaving. As amazing as the offence is, we're not quite to the dominant level yet because of the D, and with a team like the Patriots in the league, we've got a way's to go. Still, it’s great fun! Go Cowboys go!!!!!