What is the "celebrity appeal?" Why do we all feel this need to be up to date on the latest Kardashian drama or memorizing all the names of "The Bachelorette" candidates? Why do we get so invested in the lives of these celebrities who don't even know our names?
It is in our culture and nature as we have grown up watching the Grammys, Oscars and any professional sports game. We aspire to be like the people we see on television. The driving forces of wealth and fame overtake our life decisions and pop culture controls our conversations.
Social media platforms have made the "celebrity" title even more attainable with typical people gaining fame and wealth through YouTube or Instagram. What makes that average person stand out from the millions of other users? How do you become that one in a million? Do you even want to be?
After thinking about it for a while, I have realized that fame and fortune aren't all they are hyped up to be. I have come to realize something I value more than anything, my freedom. When you are constantly under the watch of fans, publicity and press, you start to lose sight of who you really are because you become a mold of what everyone else wants you to be like.
So many people already feel immense pressure to maintain an image and brand for themselves. Adding fame to that equation just makes life that much more difficult. My little sisters always talk about wanting to be like Selena Gomez or Beyoncé, but I really don't think I would want to deep down. Sure, from the outside their lives may seem so out of the ordinary, easy and carefree. However, in reality celebrities face pressures incomparable to anything we see on television. Imagine having all of your secrets and relationship drama revealed to the entire world, or imagine the day you decide to walk around without makeup in sweats and it ends up in the tabloids.
We pay to see their shows, sit in the audience or stand behind ropes to maybe catch a glimpse at the top of their head. If they possibly make eye contact with us, give us their autograph or get a selfie with us, then it would be the topic of discussion for the next year. But why? Why are these normal people, most of them around our age, so coveted and put on a high pedestal.
Why is it that we so desperately want to be like those we see on television? Even if we know these background difficulties they face, we still want to be them. I think it falls into the idea of wanting what we can't have. It's simple human nature. If you know you can't have something, then that unattainable object or person becomes more intriguing to you. It's quite sad if you think about it. Many of us want we can't have, but once we have something, we don't want it anymore.
I think it is important to appreciate those things you do have and not always go through life playing a "game." True happiness and contentment will come when you can look at what you have, material items, people, skills, knowledge, physical appearance and tell yourself that that is simply all you need.
