We all love celebrities. I mean, can you
pick just ONE public figure you completely adore? Can you honestly say you have
never tried to imitate a fashion idea from your favorite celebrity? Have we not
stood in front of a mirror, pinching our bellies and sucking our cheeks in to
get that “look”? Guilty as charged. Clearly, celebrities play a huge role in
our lives. They’re everywhere we go. When you’re in the supermarket, the
magazine stand displays them on the cover. When you’re online, you Google their
latest scandal. When you’re home, you watch some E! News. And every other
minute, you hear about how brave Caitlyn Jenner is while undergoing her sex
change. It is inevitable. So it is safe to say, our world is obsessed with celebrities.
As a keen observer and self-acclaimed
perceptive person, I thought of a few reasons as to why I believe some of us
are completely all over celebrities. They look amazing, most of the time. They
seem to have their lives together. Some of them make more money than a nation’s
Gross Domestic Product. Their houses can accommodate part of some third-world
countries. Their spouses are dreamy. The list goes on. And we cannot help
wanting to be like them and try to learn more about them.
I am not sure as per the boundary of healthy
and dangerous in this case, especially for younger minds. Some incidents will
never leave my thoughts. I vividly recall Kylie Jenner’s “Kylie Jenner Lip
Challenge” which encouraged people to suck their lips through a short glass and
then release the glass to allow them to have bee-strung lips for a little
while. As a consequence, a lot of people suffered from chapped lips, stitches
due to broken glass and so on. Also for Kim Kardashian whose marriage lasted
for no longer than 70 something days with that Kris dude. Still on Kim who wore
killer heels during her last trimester of her pregnancy, defying all labor care
suggestions by gynecologists and pediatricians everywhere. AND has published a
350+ page book consisting of all her selfies (sorry guys, I don’t like
trash-talking celebrities but if I hear one more story about the Kardashians, I
will cry).
This obsession is more apparent after the
dot-com rise in the recent decade. News channels are more accessible and we
“commoners” can reach out to our favorite celebrities directly on Instagram and
Twitter. People have been crazier ever since. Suddenly, we have given way to online
stalkers, cyber bullies and other psychopath we find online these days. Those who find a way to steal celebrities' private images are the worst. Of
course, if you aren’t a celebrity, you’re probably fine.
I don’t mind a healthy celebrity
infatuation. I share a little of it too. I would kill to dance with Shahid
Kapoor, although that would be a ridiculous scene. But these desires to learn
more about them should not come in the way of us learning about those who try
to make the world a better place, by doing more than wearing a barely-there one
piece and upload them for a million likes. We ALL know who Caitlyn Jenner is
and what she did, we ALL know that Justin Bieber spat on his fan once, we ALL
know he and Selena dated (are dating?), we ALL know that Kareena Kapoor gets
along with Saif’s children. But how many of us actually know that Paul Walker spent
a huge chunk of his assets on charitable activities and philanthropy. That Akon
created Star Academy to provide electricity to 600 Africans? That people in
Haiti are eating mud cookies simply to survive? Our IQs seem to get lower over the years, but
our ego and infatuation are getting fed. Which is sad, considering that the
fact that our rat race towards the finish line should not be based upon the
number of abs (six-pack, eight-pack, now I hear there is such a thing as
ten-pack?!?!) Shah Rukh Khan is aiming for his next movie. Oh, did you know
that in India, Rajnikant's fans have made a 150 feet statue of him, which is washed with milk every other
day. Mind = boggled.
It is time for us to stop getting
brainwashed by the media. Their headlines have been spiced up to cater to what
we want to read. We do not need a full on write-up about Rihanna’s outfit to
the VMAs, nor do we need to know for how much JLo has her butt insured. Respect those who deserve to be given the accolades. Don’t forget our
true heroes; our firefighters, medical staff and police workers (at least those
who work free from corruption) who fight their way for a better country. Respect
celebrities, but remember that they are not the center of your world. Most
importantly, start respecting yourself and your intellectual self. Feed your
mind, not your ego.
Cheers xx
