Here is what bothers me about the whole “Take Down a Celebrity/Star Pastime”. I find this whole new “game” really sort of sick. There was a time when celebrity meant that you actually did something – As an artist. As a matter of fact, I think it is now time to define what a Star is and what a Celebrity is.
A star per the Webster’s New World dictionary is: adj. 1.Showing great skill; outstanding. Verb 2. To play an important part in a play, movie, T.V. show etc.
Celebrity~ N. 1. A famous person 2. Fame, renowned (Great fame).
I am sure we can tell the difference between someone who is infamous (has a bad reputation) for who became famous because they acted like an idiot in the press and got attention or because they preyed on a star and got attention that way and of course there is the murderer. Those people probably don’t mind being preyed upon by paparazzi and some even put themselves in a position where they are asking to be judged.
Anyone can be a “Celebrity” and for this I blame the publications for making anyone a Celebrity, the same goes for our “Entertainment” shows. When I use things in quotes please know I am being sarcastic. Ok~ back to my rant.
The internet has been a great outlet for information and it has been a damaging outlet for information. Anonymity (The condition of being anonymous, with no name known) has allowed people to be bigots (a narrow minded person who is prejudice against other religions, opinions etc), racists and generally judgmental and hateful, with no real consequence or responsibility for their words or actions.
Let’s take a recent article that was written about me, this person posted a very bad picture of me on the Web and then wrote comments about my potential new show and, of course, had to make some bigoted remarks about my religion. The reality is if there were no paparazzi feeding the machine no one would be able to find a photo to use to write nasty comments.
Now, could you imagine if you had a bad day and looked like a clown and it was caught on camera and not only that, your religion was being attacked?
What does my work have to do with my religion? Nothing.
What if, I caught someone on their worst day, where they looked like crap, maybe were in a bad mood and I posted that on the internet (by the way, I would be anonymous so they would not be able to defend themselves) and then allowed people to post nasty messages about that person in kind? What if every move they made, there was a criticism for which they could not respond?
I find these people who go on the net in their spare time and write hatred to be utter cowards. I challenge them to not only post a picture of themselves when they choose to say something really nasty, but supply the rest of us with THEIR personal information so maybe we can do a little digging in to THEIR personal life, find some people in THEIR family that maybe are not happy with them or hey maybe some disgruntled employees? Maybe see how the perfect people in the world are doing?
I know that I come off as harsh, but I for one don’t find hate an admirable quality. I wouldn’t hold any religion up for attack because of a single person’s actions. Could you imagine if every time someone took a misstep people said “Oh, she did that because she’s Catholic or Jewish or Muslim or Buddhist…” (By the way I was raised with Catholicism and still read the bible).
I rarely see in print other nasty comments about other celebrity’s religions. I hope that when you guys are searching the net, you will alert the nasty people of the world that they are in fact being bigots and hateful. Why has it become fair game to attack people? Because we are in the spotlight? Where was that written? “Yup, she is not human because she is on TV, so GET HER”!
I for one don’t want to know if a celebrity has cellulite or what underwear he wears. I want to be entertained. And when someone finally does gain REAL star power; I hope they take some of their resources and help others. That is what I want to know about stars.
I want stars to be stars. I don’t want to expose them. There was a time when a star was held in high esteem and there were respectful photographers who referred to artists as “Ms. Monroe”, rather than scream obscenities at them to get a rise out of them.
I guess at the end of the day, I am an old fashioned gal and feel that we should protect those who make us laugh and entertain us.
Love,
Leah