Famous For Being Famous

What is famous simply for being famous? We have celebrity chefs who put much more emphasis on the celebrity than the chef, rappers who don’t write their own lyrics and singers who can’t sing!

With a significant percentage of high school children (yes, they are still children) believing that they will someday be famous. In a recent MTV poll (because when I think ‘Accurate polling’ the first thing that pops into my mind is MTV!) 25% of teenagers think that they will be famous. Stunning. I wonder how many of them think it will be for hard work they are doing now.

Schwarzenegger was already bulking up by 14, many Olympians are facing ruination towards then end of puberty and song/dance sensations frequently have peaked and disappeared into reality TV by 30. It would seem that those things most likely to lead to fame would be evident and marked by the teen years. Sure, nuclear physicists and brain surgeons haven’t even started on the core of their training until well past the legal age to buy a bottle of brandy but how many of them can you name?

Fame, itself, as a goal seems most peculiar. Notice that more and more fame seems to be a goal instead of a side effect of excellence. Fame was, at one time not too long ago, a consequence of some quality or combination of qualities pursued for their own sake. To be the best baseball player or to be able to entertain through some skill was the goal and fame frequently followed. It is almost unheard of today to find a talented individual who has no ambition to take their chosen practice no further than an intimate jazz club or local park. Total domination of the pop charts and early draft choices would seem to be the only worthwhile conclusion if we listened to our youth.

How did an entire generation come to celebrate fame rather than excellence? It is like taking a medication for the side effects. “You know Bob, I don’t care if it keeps me from being depressed or not, the hair loss and burning diarrhea are the real benefits.” Can you imagine?