The inconveniences and drawbacks of being a celebrity

[Fotheringay-Phipps]

@Asimovian

Knowing human nature, I assume a lot of celebrities have friends and/or family who ask for handouts.

I think this is particularly true of athletes, many of whom come from low-income backgrounds.

I once saw Mike Tyson (I think it was him) commenting on this. He said he liked to go back to the old neighborhood, but whenever he did there were all sorts of people who looked at him and saw dollar signs. And even he (then still at the top) didn’t have enough money for all of them.

[Sunspace]

Being a celebrity sounds like hell to me. And I don’t think that riches would make up for it.

I want to be rich and obscure.

[Count_Blucher]

@eclectic_wench

I read somewhere that when you become a huge celebrity - not just well-known, but the level you’re talking about - your emotional development is often arrested at that age, because of that lack of checks and balances to behaviour and ego. So someone who becomes hugely famous at 35 is probably going to be as decent a human being as anyone else, because he’s already emotionally an adult - but someone who becomes a huge celebrity at sixteen is going to have a much harder time turning into a balanced adult.

I think you’ve hit an important nail on the head. This would explain some behaviors I’ve read about.

I still think that the whole ‘dominance’ need gets magnified though. You Must be the best, you Must be picked at the audition, you Must give the best show, you Must look the best in designer-X, you Must smile the best, etc.
That whole acting meme in that Sandler movie “Just Go With It”… the improvise or die thing… touches on this. It rewards only the individuals who are flawlessly perfect in any situation while castigating anyone who would make
any mistake that might interrupt the process or the flow. In that mindset, it might almost seem logical to treat poorly anyone who isn’t perfect just to reinforce the need to Be perfect.

In the daily quest for dominance/winning, some people may not even be conscious that they are behaving in an anti-social or dysfunctional way to others because they are so focused on achieving or maintaining their success.

[HubZilla]

@X.L.Lent

If you had a funny and/or memorable line in a film you will spend the rest of your
life having that line repeated to you by complete strangers who think this sort
of thing is fun. Lauren Bacall probably got tired of people asking her
“Have you ever been bit by a dead bee?” Jerry Seinfeld has probably had more
than one waiter yell at him “No soup for you!”

Ned Beatty especially has my sympathies in this regard.

[overlyverbose]

I would hate to have someone manage my time and my food for me. This is where you going to go and when and I don’t care if you’re sick or having a shitty day - you’ll do it and like it! Oh, and no, you cannot have that cookie.

Also, imagine being that person’s spouse. You’re constantly ignored and pushed aside in favor of your famous SO. If you’re the famous person, you have to deal with it to some extent - people speaking only to you instead of to both of you. That’s a personal pet peeve of mine.

[Count_Blucher]

@overlyverbose

I would hate to have someone manage my time and my food for me. This is where you going to go and when and I don’t care if you’re sick or having a shitty day - you’ll do it and like it! Oh, and no, you cannot have that cookie.

Also, imagine being that person’s spouse. You’re constantly ignored and pushed aside in favor of your famous SO. If you’re the famous person, you have to deal with it to some extent - people speaking only to you instead of to both of you. That’s a personal pet peeve of mine.

I’d imagine that a spouse would have a hard time of it.
They’d have to be a constant combination of shoulder to cry on and punching bag. They’d have to try to take the marching orders of the physical trainer and the dietician and come up with cheesy conversation starters like,

“Wow! Have you tried these eggs? You don’t have to pt anything on them & they’re So full of flavor! Here, let me fix you some…” :rolleyes:

or worse…

“I was at the Farmer’s Market today & a fresh shipment of Cilantro Just Came In!!! I was so psyched, I bought all Sorts of fresh greens and carrots and I made a Truly Delicious salad for us. Here, want to try some…?” :rolleyes:
(I’m guessing that the whole punching-bag part is self explanatory.)