By chance, after opening my mail this morning, I caught an article on MSN online news about celebrities fighting back (that is, against the paparazzi). This comes after more and more incidents of aggressive car chases and accidents - the celebrities claiming that the paparazzi are endangering their, as well as the public's lives. Indeed this is true summed up in one word - Diana.
Yet again, I want us to get perspective on this whole celeb-paparazzi phenomenon, as it is so easy for us supermarket folk to loose perspective due to our human nature:
Firstly, we have to ask ourselves how this whole unhealthy situation came into being. Why do these photographers act so much like a pack of wolves, chasing after a herd of herbivores? What creates that kind of insane behavior?
Supply and demand - nature's old game. The demand comes from Mr.and Mrs. Obsessive - thus you and me, trapped in our frustrating little suburbian existence, yearning for that 'fairy tale' life of essentially normal people - and the supply comes form the celebrities, aggressively taken by the paparazzi, albeit not directly, as there is another key element behind the scenes here - The Media.
The Media knows how to make money from the masses. We are so easily manipulated, how else? And how you might ask? Well, think about it like this: there are many people out there, much richer than most of the celebrities (even you could be one) and also well known - but they are not hunted down like animals - why not? Celebrities are neither gods nor super heroes; they are mere men and women with the same frailties you have - they are born, they get illnesses, and the mourn when loosing a loved one. Then why this obsession?
Johnny Depp's interviews give us a clue: 'They make you into a product', he will usually say. Indeed, this is true. Notice how we are conned into 'buying' things we don't need; those things that you spend all your hard earned cash on, only to gather dust in your garage or attic. And celebrities are one of those products.
The Media key players notice who might make good 'products': good looks, a bit of rebellion and of course, popularity ranks climbing due to these characteristics. So, they either mold this new actor/ actress or pop star into a profitable creature, using what I call Faust Syndrome, or they fabricate stories around photographic settings, thus creating a 'real life' soap opera.
And we gulp it up like fools, as we are so obsessed with getting out of suburbia. Over the years, this parasitic social phenomenon has evolved into something very nasty. 'Fans' now believe that it is their God-given right to know the lives of celebrities: 'they wanted to be rich and famous, thus they have no right to privacy. They are MINE now'. And the Media abuses this, fueling this unhealthy obsession. It has become so nasty, that even non-paparazzi members of the public will walk up to a star, and videograph or photograph them, forcing themselves into their privacy, only to put it on YouTube, or sell it to the Media!
This symptom of society is a dead give away to just how lost we are in our own superficial materialism. These days, it is all about shopping, Botox, crazy sex parties and wanting to become famous - like Victoria Beckham once remarked before she became famous: "I want to become as famous as a detergent brand". And that she has become, but sadly missing the point: it is not about one's own ego, it is about sharing your talents with the world.
Mankind has lost its way. It is fumbling about in a dark part of the forest, the road leading to light, truth and our Inner Selves, completely forgotten.
We need to wake up, and look for the path again...
Yet again, I want us to get perspective on this whole celeb-paparazzi phenomenon, as it is so easy for us supermarket folk to loose perspective due to our human nature:
Firstly, we have to ask ourselves how this whole unhealthy situation came into being. Why do these photographers act so much like a pack of wolves, chasing after a herd of herbivores? What creates that kind of insane behavior?
Supply and demand - nature's old game. The demand comes from Mr.and Mrs. Obsessive - thus you and me, trapped in our frustrating little suburbian existence, yearning for that 'fairy tale' life of essentially normal people - and the supply comes form the celebrities, aggressively taken by the paparazzi, albeit not directly, as there is another key element behind the scenes here - The Media.
The Media knows how to make money from the masses. We are so easily manipulated, how else? And how you might ask? Well, think about it like this: there are many people out there, much richer than most of the celebrities (even you could be one) and also well known - but they are not hunted down like animals - why not? Celebrities are neither gods nor super heroes; they are mere men and women with the same frailties you have - they are born, they get illnesses, and the mourn when loosing a loved one. Then why this obsession?
Johnny Depp's interviews give us a clue: 'They make you into a product', he will usually say. Indeed, this is true. Notice how we are conned into 'buying' things we don't need; those things that you spend all your hard earned cash on, only to gather dust in your garage or attic. And celebrities are one of those products.
The Media key players notice who might make good 'products': good looks, a bit of rebellion and of course, popularity ranks climbing due to these characteristics. So, they either mold this new actor/ actress or pop star into a profitable creature, using what I call Faust Syndrome, or they fabricate stories around photographic settings, thus creating a 'real life' soap opera.
And we gulp it up like fools, as we are so obsessed with getting out of suburbia. Over the years, this parasitic social phenomenon has evolved into something very nasty. 'Fans' now believe that it is their God-given right to know the lives of celebrities: 'they wanted to be rich and famous, thus they have no right to privacy. They are MINE now'. And the Media abuses this, fueling this unhealthy obsession. It has become so nasty, that even non-paparazzi members of the public will walk up to a star, and videograph or photograph them, forcing themselves into their privacy, only to put it on YouTube, or sell it to the Media!
This symptom of society is a dead give away to just how lost we are in our own superficial materialism. These days, it is all about shopping, Botox, crazy sex parties and wanting to become famous - like Victoria Beckham once remarked before she became famous: "I want to become as famous as a detergent brand". And that she has become, but sadly missing the point: it is not about one's own ego, it is about sharing your talents with the world.
Mankind has lost its way. It is fumbling about in a dark part of the forest, the road leading to light, truth and our Inner Selves, completely forgotten.
We need to wake up, and look for the path again...
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