Fame Monsters
I feel like in this day and age, every little kid dreams of becoming famous when they're older. Ask any kid if they want the fame, I am sure the majority would jump up and down with a huge smile on their face thinking about the day when they are up on the ranks of social media fandom with Selena Gomez. Or maybe even that egg that just broke Kylie Jenner's record of the most likes on an Instagram picture. The kids probably love that egg.
Selena and the egg aside, this society has made us all into what Lady Gaga used to write about in the mid-2000s; fame monsters. What once would have resulted in answers like astronaut and veterinarian, the question is changing, evolving. "What do you want to be when you grow up" could turn into "which social media platform do you want the most followers on?". Because the world is changing. It is only a response to the changing of the tides, the turning of the tables.
The Dark Side of That Moon
I watched a documentary the other night that represented fame in its complete, 360-degree form. Not just the front of the deal, the fame, the money, the access, the popularity. It showcased the other side as well, the dark side of that moon. The constant hounding of random opinions, the judgments, the pressure, the lack of privacy, the feeling of being stuck in a bubble-stuck in their ways. One of the people in the show mentioned they were jealous of their friends who had no fame, who were settling down with their new families and adding kids to brighten their lives and fill their homes. Overall, I took away from that documentary that the limelight draws the life away. Happiness. The people were sad, deeply sad at the way their lives had turned out. I think this is inevitable when you can no longer go to the grocery store with your comfiest sweats on without being hounded by cameras and questions that sink deep beneath the skin.
The Grass Sure is Greener
Sure, the MET gala seems like a bangin' time. Sign me up. But maybe sign me up to be the one who takes notes in the corner, the one who can still view it through a lens that isn't tainted by the pressure of appearing as a "heavenly body", that won't have to worry about being on the front page of any best and worst dressed tabloid. The grass is always greener on the other side. This is so entirely true, and it is refreshing to get a glimpse into how the grass is watered on the other side. How maybe those would prefer your own grass to theirs.