When I was a kid I wanted to be famous. I wanted people to know who I was. I wanted to be rich and successful.
I was stupid!
Age and experience has shown me that this whole notion of celebrity is completely disgusting and heart breaking.
Why do we revere people because they are good at pretending to be someone other than themselves, or because they are tall, or can run really fast, or they're attractive, or they sing well, or because they are on TV? Its not that we appreciate their talent, we idolize the person, hang on their ever word, and desire any sort of proximity we can get! We want them to be our friends, our lovers, demagogues*, or even demigods.
When I worked at a restaurant in downtown Chicago I had the most aloof managers in restaurant history. None was worse than my general manager; he would sit in the back counting money or playing solitaire until the rush would go away and the stress had passed. He was rarely around when we needed him, and never on the floor to oversee the nightly running of the restaurant. I never received any questions on how I was doing, and was never propositioned for help. That is... until one Sunday night when one of the stars from the Chicago Bulls came to sit in my section. Suddenly the man who couldn't care less about me, how my tables were, or how good at my job I was, would not get off my back!
He kept asking me how I was doing? Do I need any help? Is Soandso happy? Etc? Honestly I didn't know who the guy was. People had to tell me (all in hushed tones and whispers, just so Soandso Whatshisface wouldn't find out who he was apparently). My manager was there for this guy's every need, making sure food was out quickly, making sure I was smiling, seeing to it that his check was delivered in a timely fashion, and making sure I didn't have one second of peace the whole time Soandso Whatshisface McBasketballstar was eating dinner with his family.
I don't mean it to sound arrogant to say I couldn't have cared less. Maybe if he was on the Lakers I would have recognized him, but I wouldn't have cared any more. Being a good basketball play didn't make him more deserving of my attention than any other person I was waiting on that night. Honestly, the only affect knowing who he was had on me was it made his 15% tip seem pretty stingy ("come on dude... you can afford to throw me a twenty spot!")
As he left my manager stood with his back as straight as he could at the front door, extended his hand for a nice hand shaking, and said something about appreciated having him in our city or something. I told my manager his wife would probably be jealous if she saw him this flustered over another person, he gave me a sharp look, I laughed, and he went back to the office to play more solitaire. His night wasn't gonna get any better than that.
I was completely confused by the whole thing. What was there to gain in idolizing this guy? All the whispering, the special attention, the reverence, what did it accomplish? We were gonna get some of his vast wealth? Was it gonna make us part of his entourage? Was some of his celebrity gonna rub off on us and make us more awesome too?
There was nothing to gain accept further perpetuating of the myth that they (celebrities) are special and we (not celebrities) are not. That guy came away believing everything the media told him because we worshiped the stupid ground he walked on just like they told us to. Because he can run and put a basketball through a hoop better than you or I can. BECAUSE HE CAN PUT A BASKETBALL THROUGH A HOOP BETTER THAN YOU OR I CAN!!! Doesn't that just sound ridiculous?!
Who developed the polio vaccine?
Who has the most homeruns in a single season?
Who is the leading researcher in curing breast cancer?
Who is the best basketball player of all time?
Our priorities are screwed up. I don't know the answers to polio or cancer question either. I'm ashamed of that.
I'm not saying we shouldn't like basketball or respect those who play the game well. I'm not saying we shouldn't watch movies and respect actors. I more than most people love movies and know an embarrassing amount of information on different actors careers. But I don't worship them. And I don't care how they spend their weekends, or if they are pregnant, or divorced, or getting fat, or if they named their kid Apple!
Entertainment celebrities are even more interesting. We don't just love them for their work in film, TV, or music. We are fascinated by their social lives. Its like if we know more about their personal lives and character traits then they are our friends. But knowing this stuff doesn't help us appreciate their art any more.
Christian Bale just had this whole deal about flipping out on the director of photography on the set of Terminator Salvation. I never watched it because I don't want to support people watching it. Knowing anything about Bale does not help me understand the movie any better, and it doesn't help me to identify with his character's motivations and actions. It doesn't benefit anything accept give me something to talk about with my friends when that awkward silence lasts too long. I'm not defending his actions. I don't care. He could donate all of his money to PETA, he could kill puppies on weekends. It doesn't make the movie any better or worse. What I care about is if he is a good actor. He is, so I see his movies. His personal life is just that: personal.
I will say this much... Sure the guy had a bit of unlicensed anger, but who hasn't. Admit it in one moment of anger or hurt or frustration or whatever we have all done something we are not proud of. We just don't have six cameras on us, a boom mic over our heads capturing every word, and millions of people willing to give up time in their day to watch it happen. It doesn't excuse what he did, but it does show that he, like us, is human!
Celebrities don't owe you anything! And we shouldn't ask anything. Christians, this kind of behavior boarders dangerously on idolatry. If you don't like me being that severe (although I don't think I'm wrong) I'll soften it by saying that celebrity worship is at best completely irresponsible and a waste of time. What do we gain, and how will we answer for the time spent idolizing these people?
When I say its irresponsible I mean that caring what celebrities think is a foolish waste of time, especially when their only qualification is that they are a celebrity. Oprah is an example of this, she is the worlds most influential woman (and she's got her eye on the most influential person-shes looking at you Pope Benedict the XVI and the Dalai Lama!) and only has a college degree. Sure she has life experience and tragedy that has made her what she is, but that doesn't make her an expert on religion and able to lecture on her new belief system she is adapting and taking from popular eastern mystic authors. But people are eating it up despite its blatant contradictions and lack of historical credibility. She is a universalist concerned more with comfort than with truth. I'm not telling Christians to not watch her, but if she is to be watched it should be done critically, remember the Bible, not Oprah is the final authority on truth.
By worshiping celebrities we make idols of men and insult our Creator. Our time is better spent caring for and admiring those who we actually spend time with. Respect should be reserved primary for those who we see day in and day out and can observe their conduct so we can know whether or not they deserve or respect, admiration, and emulation. Celebrities don't deserve that. And God is the only one who should knock us to our knees, He is the only one who deserves our worship. Celebrities are just people, not objects for worship.
*a leader championing the cause of the common people in ancient times (from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demagogue)
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