Being famous

[ladyofastolat]

A few years ago, apparently, when you asked children what they wanted to do when they grew up, you would get a range of answers: spaceman, train driver, ballet dancer, teacher, doctor etc. Now the most common answer is simply, "to be famous."

But why? Why? Why would anyone want to be a celebrity? I think it looks like an awful life. You just get no privacy at all. Venture outside looking less than perfect, and you'll be all over the celebrity magazines with your "bad hair day", or else they'll start speculating that you're on drugs/drunk/pregnant/got an eating disorder. Yes, you get lots of money, but you get torn to pieces if you don't spend it. Wear the same dress twice, and the celebrity magazines will mock you mercilessly. And, of course, people who seek fame for fame's sake must be permanently terrified that they're going to lose it all.

By the way, if I had been asked this question when young, I would have come up with a range of answers:
At 5: A circus ring-master
At 8: I wanted to write and illustrate my own children's books
At 10: A concert pianist
At 11: A meteorologist
At 13: An astronomer
At 14: I briefly toyed with the idea of being a librarian…
At 15: An archaeologist. But then I went on a dig, and it was rather boring, and I got sunburnt.

Comments

[evilmissbecky.livejournal.com]

I wanted to be a teacher nearly all my life, except for a brief phase when I was young when I wanted to be a veterinarian.

Why would anyone want to be a celebrity? I think it looks like an awful life.

I agree. I would never want to do that.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I feel particularly sorry for actors. I'm sure some actors go into acting purely as a way to get famous, but I'm sure others do it because they really feel the burning vocation to act. Sometimes they seem to get famous almost by accident - by appearing in a low-budget film that ends up huge. Suddenly they're celebrities without really meaning to.

Many celebrities presumably want that sort of life-style, though. They might moan about the lack of privacy, but then they do everything possible to push themselves into the lime-light.