Folly of Fame | Teen Ink

Folly of Fame

February 26, 2014
By QuinnSabin BRONZE, Cannon Falls, Minnesota
QuinnSabin BRONZE, Cannon Falls, Minnesota
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Famous teen pop star Justin Bieber has begun a devious wild streak, a wild streak that makes him a wonderful example of how society focuses too much on the famous. Bieber has been in street races, egged peoples houses and much more. Now the White House Government petition site has a new petition, Deport Bieber. With this petition far surpassing the 100,000 signatures to be addressed by the White House it will be interesting to see how a government reacts to society's infatuation with this pop star. People idolize the famous as gods, and then in turn the famous feel like they are above the law. So many of them, especially young stars, believe they can do whatever they want. Well they can’t, but they think they can because of fame. Fame, it is a bigger issue than many would think. The danger has always been there, but it is at a whole new level in this day in age. Fame can hurt us and the stars themselves, but the stars are not solely to blame. It can create bad role models, harm to viewers and fans, and perhaps it harms the celebrities most of all.

Many teen celebrities now are extremely bad role models that advocate sex, drugs, obscene behavior, and partying. Fame creates many bad role models, according to a recent Newsweek poll, 77 percent of responders say that young celebrities have too much influence on young girls, and 84 percent say that sexuality plays a much bigger role in media than 20 years ago. Some big names you hear nearly every day are Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber and both of them are less than satisfactory role models. Miley Cyrus advocates vulgar and sexual behavior by saying that she is a good role model. According to the Examiner, she states that she is promoting being yourself and not be stuck to stereotypes. In reality, she is going about it all wrong, hurting more than helping. She is showing young girls its “ok” or “cool” to smoke pot, wear super revealing clothes, and promote sex. Although Miley isn’t the only bad role model, not even the worst, she is at least attempting to pretend she is trying to send a good message. But Justin Beiber has no message other than he is way cooler than everyone else. A Huffington Post article, published January 1st, 2014, by Dr. Peggy Drexler, a research psychologist and gender scholar, talks about how Justin Bieber's narcissistic behavior should have been expected looking at the history of celebrities and the fact he is worshipped like a god by many of his fans. He wasn’t always drunk driving or drag racing and pretending it was nothing. Before he was truly famous he was just a cheesey boy singer. Fame mutated him with his intense fan base that idolizes him like a god; he thinks he can do whatever he wants.

Fame has the potential to hurt the public and in many cases has. A U.S. Newswire article by Dr. Zicht, faculty member and supervisor at the William Alanson White Institute, says that celebrity over idolization can cause avoidance of culture and anxiety about individuality and self image. Many stars starve themselves to look skinny and “beautiful” and as a result many girls think they are too “fat” and ugly. Also, according to an article written on the Wattpad, a news website with current topics, celebrities and their music can create cliques that bully and shun others, all dependant on what celebrities they like and the type of music they enjoy. Along with creating segregation, fame causes viewers to look at themselves more objectively and in a harsher light.

Fame hasn’t just become a harmful thing recently. If you look back within just the past 20 or 30 years you can see a definite increase in sexual content exposed to teens. According to the Rand Corporation, a corporation that objectively analyzes issues and posts solutions, says that the increase in sexual media has lead to the increase in teen pregnancies. Celebrities still have privileges and assume they can get away with anything. One good example of this is the O.J. Simpson case. O.J. Simpson killed his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in 1994. According to the University of Missouri-Kansas City the evidence was inaccurate. The glove found at the murder scene was drenched in blood so when it dried it caused it to shrink. He also had to wear a rubber glove which contributed to the glove not fitting. In addition, the reason many people didn't want him to be guilty was because he was a hero for many, a good role model and he was popular. People loved him and didn’t want to believe he did it. In the book written by O.J. Simpson in 2007, he comes out and admits to the crimes showing how much being famous, loved, and a little bit of luck can do for a man.

The celebrities are not solely to blame. The media, by putting the celebrities in the spotlight, holds equal blame. According to the 2013 State of the News Media, an annual report on American journalism, an average of over 50% of what is seen on the news centers on celebrities. The news stations focus entirely too much on celebrities and not enough on real world happenings and factual reporting. The media hurts stars, according to a Time Magazine article on fame, by creating a very unstable plateau for the stars to live on. Stars are endlessly stalked by paparazzi and crazed fans, invading the their privacy and harassing them mercilessly.

With all this attention, stars feel the need to make themselves stand out, try to escape problems, or just want to conform to the partying stereotype, therefore they turn to drugs. The Jakarta Post , based in Indonesia, says that stars have easy access to drugs, can get away with improper actions, and can do whatever they want most of the time. If one steps back and looks at the evidence supporting this many big names have died from drugs. From Whitney Houston to Jimi Hendrix stars have been prone to drug use for a long time. Now with Justin Bieber being caught with marijuana and Miley Cyrus admitting to smoking it, teens are almost pushed into drug use. With all this adovation of drugs, kids think they have to do drugs to fit in when in reality they don’t. Using these drugs could ruin their life.

Over focus on fame today is a much larger issue than many would think. It is okay to have a star for a role model, but when that star is on stage half naked singing about drugs and sex it becomes a bad situation. With the famous starving themselves, many people develop poor self image and anxiety. If the media focused more on real news and stars became less idolized, it could improve many people's quality of life. If America focused more on legitimate news, and less on what revealing cloths Miley Cyrus wore and how skinny she is, the American public could like what they see in the mirror, be their own person, and prevent celebrities from thinking they can do whatever they want .



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