Politics and Politicians and Celebrities Part Two
Celebrities. Idolized. Honored. Admired.
Yes, they are very skilled. Actors are skilled in convincingly portraying myriads of personalities. Yes, very good at it. Musical celebrities are skilled at creating or performing music that successfully strikes chords (pardon the pun) in the hearts and minds of people. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are skilled at playing an instrument or singing nowadays, but that’s a whole ‘nother post. The fact is, if they are celebrities, they are doing something right relative to capturing populations of fans. Politicians are also celebrities that people idolize (John, Robert and Ted Kennedy are perfect examples). The Owl’s opinion is, politicians and actors are basically the same basic personality type. More on that later. Then there are athlete celebrities. These celebrities spend their entire lives on one singular thing (like running as fast as they can for 100 yards) to the exclusion of almost everything else. (The “everyday” version of this is like mopping a floor is the only productive thing you do for most of your life.) The Owl actually heard a 100-yard dash Olympian, who lost, say she spent all day for four years training for the 100-yard dash and was so disappointed she lost. Really, she did nothing for four years but train for a race that lasts 13-14 SECONDS!!! Such a material contribution to society. And she was sponsored so she didn’t have to work to pay her living expenses. You do…
The masses idolize them. Some people are so fanatical that their homes or portions of their homes are shrines to their favorite celebrity. Some people are simply enchanted by any celebrity, no matter who they are or what they do. They become gob smacked and swoon in the presence of every and any celebrity. For some reason, people think celebrities are better than they are or anyone they know. The Owl’s opinion is that this is really not the case.
The Owl has, through experience, learned that not only are celebrities just like the rest of us and are not deserving of the over the top adoration they get, but the majority of them are actually more screwed up than the rest of us.
The Owl has been “backstage”, so to speak, with celebrities of various kinds: musical celebrities, actors, politicians, visual artists, etc. There are also many depictions in the public domain that detail the troubled and messed up lives of celebrities. Just watch one of those biographic movies of a celebrity. Or just read the news (paper or digital)
History shows that a heck of a lot of celebrities have behavioral health problems. The most common diagnosis is bipolar disorder. Others are OCD, some have personality disorders, etc. If you are not a celebrity and have hung out with celebrities, this becomes pretty obvious.
People think what they see when a celebrity is on stage (on film, on TV, on YouTube, etc.) is fundamentally what the celebrity is really like. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Some of them, when not “on stage”, are 180 degrees from what they project when they are working or in the public eye. Ever watch those reality shows that follow celebrities around? The reason some of those shows are actually entertaining is the abnormal behavior they and the people around them exhibit. If they weren’t weird, the show would flop.
Actors are particularly disturbing because you never know when they are acting and when they aren’t. They’ve been trained to call up any emotion instantaneously. Are they crying because they are really sad or just because they can do that to manipulate a situation? Are they really happy for you or just seeming so because they have an ulterior motive? You never know. I’ve seen actors smile, glad hand, compliment, etc., then walk into a private area and, in really vulgar language, disparage the people they just built up. For these reasons, it’s not a surprise that most celebrities are married multiple times, have multiple affairs, and get themselves into troubling situations (like drug and alcohol abuse, overdoses, suicide attempts, belligerent behavior, killing people in car accidents, etc). And still, the public forgives them because, well, they’re celebrities, don’t you know? Their adulation supersedes rational thinking.
No matter the celebrity, they are often rude, demeaning, self-absorbed, demanding, and just plain nasty.
Of course, this isn’t 100%. Maybe…at least 80%.
It’s all about them
Yes, the same headline as in the post about politicians. That’s because politicians are celebrities. Whenever you are in the presence of a celebrity, it is all about them. Your job is to make them feel important and stroke their egos. If you make any negative remark about them, you’re usually asked to leave or ushered out against your will. Want to see how self-absorbed these folks are? Watch the red-carpet segments of award shows.
Think of the non-celebrity you know who is the best at what he or she does. A teacher, a police officer, a fire fighter, a tile setter, a landscaper. These people are no less skilled at what they do than an actor, a singer, a politician, etc. When you are in their presence, do they command your adoration? Except for certain medical specialists, usually in the surgical specialty area, the answer is no.
Remember Amy Pascal’s comment at SONY that actors are “bottomless pits of need”. This actually applies to all celebrities. The Owl totally agrees with Amy, who got fired for speaking the truth. Unfortunately, it was a negative comment about a type of celebrity (actors) so, SHE WAS USHERED OUT. (See how this works?)
The main convincing information that supports this “it’s all about me” contention is the number of awards shows. According to TV insider, there are 35 award shows televised every year. These are essentially music, film and television based award shows. This doesn’t include athletic award shows which are usually not televised (like sports award shows that award the rookie of the year, the most valuable player, etc.).
There’s not only an award show for, for example, the music business, there are sub-award shows. For example, there’s the Grammys, a passel of Country Music Awards, multiple black music award shows, Latino or Hispanic music award shows, Music Video award shows, etc.
There’s the Oscars, the Golden Globes, The Emmy’s, The Daytime Emmy’s, The People’s Choice, The Tony’s.
And awards like the Grammy’s have so many categories, it’s getting to the point of ridiculousness. It’s like a firefighter awards show having a category for best hose roller-upper. Or a surgeon awards show that had a category for best abdominal surgery opening incision award. Really. Silly.
It’s the “everyone should get a trophy” mentality.
The Owl’s opinion is, there should only be five celebrity awards shows. If you can’t perform to a level of excellence to get a trophy at these five, too bad. Here’s the five:
Grammy’s
Oscars
Emmy’s
Tony’s
People’s Choice
Then there are the TV shows, magazines, newspaper columns, YouTube channels, etc. that are devoted to keeping you up to date on all the goings on celebrity.
The Owl’s request: People, will you please stop the celebrity adoration! Most of these folks don’t perform at their jobs any better than you do at your job. Who’s idolizing you? Get the point?
The Owl Idolizes no one.