As many people know, celebrities nowadays are put on rather high pedestals. They are given special rights and privileges and often get away with many things that a regular person like me would not. However, we as the “little people” have no room to complain about it. Because, whether we believe it or not, we pay to keep them on that pedestal. Not only do we pay excessive (and increasing) amounts of money to see their movies and buy their CDs, but we also buy magazine after magazine with candid “stalker” photos of them. Sadly, humans have come to idolize these people they don’t even know.
I have absolutely no problem with paying what I do to see the movies I want to see and hear the music I want to hear. This may be due to the fact that I’m a musical theater student, but I honestly just enjoy the arts in general and want to reward these celebrities for their hard work. I know from experience that they have earned it. The entertainment industry is not an easy one to be involved in.
However, I have always believed that these people’s lives are absolutely none of my business. I don’t want or care to know if Brittney Spears is getting married again. I don’t particularly feel the need to see who Taylor Swift is dating now. And I certainly don’t want to know if Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are having marriage problems. Think about it. How angry, hurt and/or upset would you be if the whole world knew that your significant other was unfaithful to you? How uncomfortable would you be if the paparazzi were constantly bombarding you with questions about your relationship, home life, eating habits, etc.?
Not only is it intrusive, but this state of obsession is an unhealthy lifestyle to be teaching to the younger generations. They will have no sense of privacy or personal space. Their sense of right and wrong will be altered. I was pretty sure of this before, but very recently I became certain of it through the entire fiasco revolving around teen heart-throb Justin Bieber. Bieber was caught in an anonymously-taken photograph smoking marijuana. After the photo spread all over the Internet, teens began a very gruesome trend they called “#CutForBieber.”
Now, I have absolutely no clue what these kids intended to achieve through this, but then again, I don’t think they did either. The children, mostly female, were cutting their wrists and posting pictures all over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr with “#CutForBieber” attached as if they were forming a sort of support group through the link. It became an epidemic that made absolutely no sense to older generations. Sadly, these people were mocked for their “stupidity.”
I agree their choices were ignorantly made, but the mockery only made it worse. Kids who hadn’t even been cutting for “the cause” before began standing up for the other children and cutting themselves as well to make a point.
Another example can be seen through Miley Cyrus and her previous choices, both in entertainment and lifestyle. She was once “America’s Sweetheart” on the Disney Channel show “Hannah Montana.”
After the show ended, however, she wanted to gain an older audience for her music career. Her change was unexpected when she performed on “Dancing with the Stars.”
There were cage dances, curse words and other “scandalous” acts. Soon, Miley was being judged for every single thing she did. She has been under extreme scrutiny ever since. When she cut and dyed her hair to a much shorter and lighter style, the world criticized her as if she was a child in need of reproach. What people don’t seem to grasp is that Cyrus is not their child, friend or even comrade. She is a woman capable of making her own choices and should be allowed to do so without being under the world’s microscope.
This blind obsession and idolization needs to end. No generation should have to deal with it, especially at this caliber. If there’s one thing America needs to learn, it is that there is no price on privacy. Everyone is entitled to it, and, when people cross those lines (as we can see through “Cut for Bieber”), there are consequences on both sides. Until we learn to leave them be, events like this will continue to happen. Sadly, we are too invested in the thought that they are a special breed of human who needs to be examined.
