Is celebrity worshipping healthy?

 Being interested in the personal lives of celebrities might seem like harmless fun, but is it?  Celebrities are worshiped worldwide, especially in poor countries. Celebrity worship is not new it can be traced back to ancient Greece and Olympus. Celebrity worship is more prevalent today than in the past because we have more access to celebrity’s personal lives due to modern technology.

There is a thin line between politics and celebrities in the Philippines. As of October 15^th there had been 29 celebrities file for election in 2016. I doubt very seriously if they are depending on their vast knowledge of governance, law, economics, national or world affairs to win them a spot in government.  

One Representative attended the third grade and has gotten a G.E.D. His ambition is to become a Senator and then President of the Philippines. English and Tagalog are the languages most used in the National government and he speaks neither fluently. Celebrity status has it perks outside of sports and entertainment.

I can remember when women started throwing their underwear on stage at Elvis Presley and media acted as if it was a new phenomenon.  Women threw their underwear on stage when composers Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt performed on stage in the 19th century.

Celebrities tap into the public's fantasies and basic emotions. They allow people to escape their everyday mundane lives and believe anything is possible. The problem with idolizing celebrity’s lives’ is that the lives idolized are usually created by managers and agents and are fantasies. The celebrities we think we know turn out to be nothing more than fictional characters.

I think the dwindling influence of religion contributes to greater celebrity worshipping. The celebrities exploit’s and eccentricities become more than a form of entertainment. They become an escape to fill a painful void in our lives, a void the church and religion once filled.

Just because someone is good at acting or a sport is no reason for us to care about their opinions on domestic/foreign policy, the environment or healthcare, but many people do. When I want a view on the current situation in Iraq or Syria I look for an interview with a diplomat, an academic, someone whose profession is to know foreign affairs.

I may agree with the personal opinion of some actor or athlete, but I am not going to search them out for advice. I will go to an expert in the area that I am interested in. Yet on many topics unrelated to acting or sports, the media is more than happy to offer celebrities a platform to air their views, no matter how shallow they are. I heard Simon Cowell giving his political opinions, the same Simon Cowell who admits to reading nothing and watching only cartoons on television, but he got access to news media because they knew he would attract an audience.

I know some are saying I am being mean spirited celebrities are just getting “the message” out to a public who lack awareness. I sort of get that. I guess what bothers me is if you are listening to celebrities on global affairs are you really asking the hard questions? 

Did you support the crisis in Haiti because of Shean Penn or because there was a legitimate need. The crisis is not over are you still contributing to rebuild the lives of Haitians? Where is Shean Penn today in regards to Hatti? I no longer hear anything about Penn and Hatti. Has he moved on to another celebrity cause? There are exceptions Elizabeth Taylor and A.I.D.S. she remained dedicated to the cause until her death.

Sean Penn denied anything was wrong with Haiti’s government and announced to the world that the small Caribbean nation had finally “turned a corner.”  In a Newsweek magazine article Sean Penn stated, “Haiti’s economy is among the fastest-growing in the Caribbean, as the government continues to make economic development a priority.” He fell to add they were making economic development a priority on the backs of the poor and middle class. Was his statements made out of ignorance of the real problems or out of friendship to the Martelly government.

It is a fact Sean Penn was friendly with the Martelly government therefore it would only be natural he would say good things about them. In fact Penn became Ambassador-at-large for the Martelly government the same government that confiscated and leveled homes in downtown Port au Prince for tourism in order to further enrich their friends.

The World Bank’s website shows that Haiti’s annual GDP growth was actually at 5.6% (following the 2008 hurricane) when Martelly came to power through highly controversial elections in 2011. GDP growth in Haiti dropped to 2.8% in 2012 and was at 3.6% in 2014. In many ways, the hurricane season of 2008 was the cruelest ever experienced in Haiti, 70% of Haiti's crops were lost, the damage was estimated to be $1 billion, up to that time it was the costliest natural disaster in Haitian history, but they recovered quickly.

Granted the earthquake cost far more lives and the damage was estimated at $14 billion. But, the aid Haiti received in 2010 following the earthquake was unprecedented. Within ten months of the earthquake $8.75 billion had been given for reconstruction. The Haitien Martelly government was having so many difficulties managing and disbursing the funds the Red Cross stopped actively soliciting donations. Penn was blaming everyone but himself for all the disasters of good intention, without ever considering he may not have had the qualification to lead a disaster relief program. 

Americans by August 2011 had donated over $12 billion. Where has the $14 billion raised as of 2015 gone? Six years later the rubble is off the streets. Haiti's back more or less to normal. But there have not been the improvements there should have been, given the resources.  

Penn was right Hatti turned the corner it went from having ghetto areas to being a ghetto country. “Millions of Haitians live on less than US$1 per day, and approximately 80% of the ten million live on less than US$2 per day. It is also one of the most unequal when it comes to rich and poor.  Penn never mentioned that Haiti’s national economy remains hostage to the powerful wealthy elite, his friends.

Penn’s claim that Martelly’s election in 2011 represented a peaceful democratic transition is absurd. Once again I ask was his statement made out of ignorance of the facts or friendship. The violence preceding and following the first round of the November 2010 presidential elections in Haiti is well documented. In fact, it is equally documented that most of the violence was perpetrated by the supporters of Michel Martelly.

Penn is just one of many examples why I do not want my news coming from celebrities or celebrities running charitable organizations. I want professionals that have dedicated their lives to those causes doing it. I have no objection to celebrities making public service spots to raise money or raising money from their friends, but I do not want them involved in the day to day operation.  I don’t go to an auto mechanic for medical issues and I am not going to a celebrity for advice on world or national affairs.

Why do we automatically become idolizers of celebrities the moment they make their first million or sign their first autograph? I know I am in the minority, but I cannot tell you the name of the star in any movie I have ever seen, not even the latest Star Trek movie that I saw only a few weeks ago. I am impressed or not impressed by the work they did in the movie I am watching and when it is over they have absolutely no influence on my life.

I was not let down when I discovered Michael Jackson was probably a pedophile; nor when I found out Bill Cosby probably had been drugging and raping women for decades; I did not expect Tiger Woods to be perfect and nothing Justin Bieber does surprises me. They or no other celebrity are my idols. I do not place any human on a pedestal. It does bother me that celebrities seem to get better treatment by the justice system than ordinary citizens.

Children are dying from starvation and lack of medical care and the public is saddened by some celebrity being arrested. They probably were released a few hours later simply because they were celebrities. Is it just me who believes the lives of celebrity are not important enough to be worrying about?

The people who I idolize and think we all should be idolizing are the ones who save lives doctors, police officers, firemen, nurses, medics or the ones giving of their time, energy and money to help the poor or teachers that are preparing our youth to be our future, or military personnel safe guarding our freedom or scientist discovering cures for illnesses. Instead many choose to idolize over paid entertainers who in most cases pretend to be something they are not.

People Magazine has a weekly audience of 4.6 million readers the largest audience of any American magazine. People Magazine attempts to satisfy the public’s obsession with celebrities. That is a lot of people spending their time and money reading about people they don’t know and will never know.

Celebrity worship has become such a problem psychologists have a name for it, Celebrity Worship Syndrome or CWS. It is estimated 36% of the public suffer from it. I came across one story of a woman who cut her own wrists and throat when her favorite celebrity got engaged. John Lennon was killed by a “fan”. While most go nowhere near those extremes, there is still a wide spread fascination with the famous.

Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, J Lo, Halle Berry, Justin Bieber and Madonna all have their own perfume. Do we really want to smell like them? I would buy their product if it met my approval, but I would not buy it because the label has their name on it. We should remember celebrities are just people. People packaged up very nicely, but people all the same. They have the same ups and downs, fears and joys, successes and challenges as the rest of us. We can appreciate them when they entertain us, for that is their job, and then we should get on with our own lives.

Don’t let the fascination with celebrities become a substitution for real life - Your focus should be on your own life. Depression, anxiety, and a decrease in self-esteem are just some of the problems that can result when we take the focus off our own lives and focus all our energy on the life of a celebrity.

In closing parents should be role models and heroes for their children. When parents allow celebrities to be their children's primary role models, the line between fantasy and reality sometimes becomes too blurred for parents to teach them lessons on ethics, character and responsibility.

I must admit The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet at 4p.m. everyday gave me a perspective on family life I did not get at home. It allowed me to consider not all families were like mine, but I always felt somewhat depressed after watching and was left wishing for something that would not be.

Needless to say I was shocked many years back when the Nelson boys confessed they felt the show not only controlled their lives but, in many ways, left them confused about their own reality. They used the camera to communicate things to each other that they could not communicate to each other face to face.

The Nelson family, in real life, were not the Nelsons they portrayed on television. Rick Nelson’s life was shattered by drugs and other demons. The real-life Ozzie was the producer, director and writer of the shows; he worked all night, the show came before the family and he was a dictator that loomed over the family. Ozzie was a hands-on businessman who prevented his sons from attending college and constantly reminded them that they were obliged to work on television. Harriet Nelson began appearing in vaudeville when she was 3 years old and on Broadway as a teen-ager. She hung out at the Cotton Club, began smoking at 13, was briefly married to an abusive comedian and lived a high-flying life until she fell in love with Ozzie and handed over her career to him.

The Nelson family may not have been as dysfunctional as mine, but they certainly were close to it. In real life they dealt with an immense amount of pressure and unreconciled issues.

I am not saying all celebrities have a negative impact on the lives of young fans. There are actors who support charities, athletes who launch after-school programs and comedians who visit hospitals to cheer up patients. These are the "unsung hero" some celebrity personalities are inspirational and worthy of admiration. If your children choose celebrities as their role models, it's important that you discuss with them the specific traits you like, respect and want them to imitate.  Discuss with your children if the traits you like reflect the celebrities true values.

If you vote for a politician based solely on his or her celebrity status then do not complain when nothing improves.