The Price of Fame

04Jun09

 

 

     When we think of fame, fortune and success, to the man on the street those words are normally synonymous with happiness.

     Well, most of the time anyway.

     With the help of media we are seeing an increasingly obvious pattern between those three things and misery. The pressure that fame puts on celebrities (whether they’re accidental celebrities or not) can often be too much to take, and can result in personal tragedy.

     An article I read recently by Helen Martin on news.scotsman.com makes a good point. In it she writes…..

     “Fame leaves people exposed, so that every indiscretion, every mistake, every personal tragedy and even private joys and sorrows become subject to public scrutiny.”

     Enter Susan Boyle.

     When the  first read the article about her mental breakdown on the Sydney Morning Herald site, I must say I wasn’t surprised.

     After all, the media was on her like white on rice – and I think anyone would agree with the opinion that voices like that are usually reserved for sold-out opera halls and packed stadiums when world-famous singers are performing.

     Although Boyle’s father was a singer, she hadn’t been born into a “singing family” per se. Her mother was a shorthand typist and Susan was a trainee cook and often part in government training schemes before she began singing at local venues, including karaoke bars. She’d had singing lessons but had never made any considerable name for herself outside her local community, so when she skyrocketed to instant fame after her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream it’s understandable that she felt overwhelmed. She had internet chatrooms, newspapers and the streets abuzz with talk of her incredible performance. Suddenly her face was on newspapers and televisions everywhere, virtually creating an unexpected cult of personality around the poor modest woman who, despite the insitence of Britain’s Got Talent’s make-up artists, decided to keep her appearance exactly as it was. Human. Not manufactured.

     It’s any wonder how any of those in the public spotlight feel human at all. Every aspect of their essence, from how they dress and talk to how they think and act, is moulded and directed by producers and entertainment industry “advisers”.

     The reason for this is that they, in obvious concert with corporate brands, are selling these individuals to society and in effect using them as walking/talking billboards. However comfortable these “individuals” feel with this, they are inadvertently condemning themselves to the spiritual equivelant of a dispensable product.

     So when I read about Susan Boyle’s collapse, I felt for her.

     As long as the entertainment industry discourages individualism in its participants, the human qualities of those participants will erode. And this is entirely the reason that I believe why a lot of celebrities crack under the pressure.

     It’s not so much that everyone’s watching you. It’s that everyone’s watching you not being you. 

          -BJH

 

Reference -    http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/tv/2009/06/01/1243708385483.html

Filed under: General banter, Health & Wellbeing, Music   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Britains Got Talent, I Dreamed A Dream, Susan Boyle