This post was due for long time because I just could not jot
down all ideas. But an article in Gurgaon times about ‘People who could not
handle success’ featuring troubled actors such as Lindsay lohan, Britney spears
and the likes filled the dot and it all made sense.
I always thought why
is that, that after getting everything normal person dreams of, celebrities do
outrageous things. Some one drove his Audi over people sleeping; some got drunk
and abused the guard at a stadium, someone took her life because of a failed
relationship. They have everything, what do they long for? Can it be that being
rich and famous isn’t that fun?
- No
private life: the biggest price one has to pay for being recognizable is
that your private life is brutally taken away from you. Everyone wants to know
everything about celebrities and paparazzi’s make sure they are never away from
a flash. Publicity, which once begins as a fascination, later turns out to the
biggest price you pay for being loved and admired by many.
- Every
action is up for public scrutiny: being in the news makes your actions bare
in front of the whole world and it attracts unwanted and often unrequired
criticism from people, who normally have nothing to do anything with your daily
life. People who you don’t know commenting about your choices in life and
expressing their discontent about personal decision can not be comforting no
matter how easy going person you are.
- Having an
opinion is a curse: every one wants to know about your opinion on something
or the other so it can make news when a celebrity has publically adored/criticized
a govt action/public figure or something similar. And since every other person
can not agree with you, press and news channel make it their duty to cover
every singlt one of them and how you feel about it.
- Ogling
people: Eyes keep following you, no matter where you go, what you do. A
simple task like going to market and having your favorite gol gappas or
attending a concert of your favorite rock band turns a distant dream because
you cannot risk causing a stampede. The ogling eyes never stop, they keep
following you everywhere.
- Random
people expect you to be nice to them: Random people keep bumping into you
to tell you the same thing, how big a fan they are and how their distant
relatives would love to see them in a picture with you. Of course you are a
celebrity so you are in a good mood all the time and would love to smile in a
pic with them. It doesn’t matter that you have been sitting there for 5 hours
waiting for your flight and doing the same thing over and over again. If you
say no, you are rude.
-
You will
be mocked regardless of your actions: there will be comedians/cartoonists
who will make jokes about you, your actions/ your family matters because
mocking famous people is easier and you don’t have to explain the joke. One
wrong decision and you are the butt of all jokes in the entire country, debates
are being organized on news channels and self-made public figures/’close’
friends to suggest you how bad a decision you have taken on national
television.
- Internet
is a monster: you realize how big a nuisance a person with a smartphone can
be. You suddenly realize how scandalous a single picture with you caught with a
weird expression, scratching your back, trying to do anything out of the
ordinary can turn out to be once it goes on to internet. And you are helpless
trying to explain your stance while everyone is having time of his or her life
at your expense. The biggest boon about the Internet turns out to be your
biggest nightmare.
- Number of
friends and relatives increase exponentially: number of people who suddenly
realize how close you and maternal uncle of their 3rd cousin’s
father were and so you should help them get their work done which normally
involves giving a phone call to someone in a decision making position because
he mentioned how big a fan he is. The number of people who you should avoid at
a family function or a party keeps getting longer day be day until you
absolutely can not meet anyone and are labeled rude.
