During adolescence, teenagers often disagree with whatever their parents do or tell them and they have a penchant for being easily influenced by the wanton celebrity lives of Hollywood stars. They probably cant help seeing the sparkly lives in Beverly Hills or New York City more appealing compared to their lackluster lives living with their parents without any spark. However, when a life of parties, short-term relationships, drugs, and alcohol are leading celebrities like Britney, Paris, and Lindsay to spiral out of control, many would think that their celebrity lifestyle is not ideal and all celebrity mishaps make an article on the next issue of a teen magazine or straight onto Internet news. The most popular TV series among teenage girls including the infamous Gossip Girl all have story lines somewhere along the lines of these “inappropriate” subjects. Many parents are concerned with the overall content these celebrities are putting on television, in movies, and over the Internet and prefer that their children live normal lives; however, prohibiting it just creates more eagerness for the teenagers to enjoy these celebrities just like a person wanting to touch a freshly painted wall with a sign that reads “Don't Touch. Wet Paint”.
Based on a recent Newsweek poll, 77% of Americans believe that celebrities have too much of an influence on young girls. This effect is especially evident in their appearance. If any girl was to be asked whether they’d want to look like their mother or Jessica Alba, the majourity of the answers can already be predicted: Jessica Alba. Teenage fashion is often influenced by celebrities and not their parents. Who would want to dress like their middle-ages parents at school and be laughed at? Plus, parents of emo kids probably do not dress anything like their children with black clothing, dyed-black straight hair, and thick eyeliner on. Although fashion can be though of as individuality, physical structure of teenagers, especially girls, seem to be a concern these days. Starting with Twiggy in the 1960s, celebrities have been creating impossible standards of beauty, more and more young adults are feeling “less confident, more angry, and more dissatisfied” with their looks and it is unnatural for 53% of girls were unhappy with their image and have tried to loose weight (National Institute on Media and the Family). Now, this cannot all be blamed on the media, but with celebrities becoming thinner and thinner, much self-confidence is lost and images of television stars or models have been connected to body displeasure. No matter how much a parent serves their children with healthy meals, if the child doesn't east, they cannot help out. Stars need to be concerned about their image because of the unpleasant fact that it causes young fans to strive to be unhealthily thin. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that eating disorders affect more than five million Americans a year, with disorders usually beginning in the teens or as early as eight. Celebrities should stay at a safe weight to insure their health and the effects their weight has in influencing their younger viewers.
Language perhaps is something that a teen can be influenced both parents and celebrities. Depending on what each family the language spoken is probably different. Not only the language itself but also the type of language and accents are different as well. For instance, one family may speak English while another might use Japanese. Or one family might use polite language while a conversation among another family might be full of “swear words”. It just all depends on the family but the use of language is all passed down to their children. Music also influences teens with their use of language. We often hear derogatory language or suggestive song lyrics in many of the rap, R&B, and hip-hop music today. Teens often use these same words trying to act “tough” or “cool” in front of their peers and it is noticed that many of the teenagers often use foul language in their conversations among their friends. Although we should all try to fix these habits of using these languages, it is hard to change something that has been built up inside yourself through many years.
Although there seems to be so many misleading influences made by celebrities, there are also several positive factors about having celebrities in the media. For instance, many actors serve as a role model for man teenagers who wish to have a career in the theater industry and having someone to look up to creates a good motivation for teen to strive for their goals rather than giving up and thinking that it’s impossible. Also, celebrities often provide funds to charities, which normal parents probably do not do as much, creating a sense that these celebrities are aware of the world and willing to help those in need. For many industries, having celebrities on their advertisement posters or commercials increases incomes—well, that does depend on which celebrity they choose to use. A mother trying to tell her child to drink milk probably is quite difficult while the Got Milk? commercials increased the consumption and the sales of milk in the United States when advertisements appeared with celebrities ranging from actors to athletes. (Wikipedia). Celebrity is money.
It is obvious that celebrity influence have started to take over parental influences among teenagers today. Therefore, celebrities should be aware that their actions have more of an effect on teenagers then many people believe they have and should concern about their portrayal on the media. However, it is not clear which influence are better than another for teenagers creating a majour dilemma for many. Nevertheless, even if these teenagers choose to be influenced by celebrities now, they might end up differently or even just like their parents in the future or vice versa leading into the ongoing debate of nature versus nurture. Their nature can be changed through the way they are nurtured through the influenced of the outside world with media. No matter what, people change throughout out their lives. It’s nature. But depending on which paths of influences they choose to take, this nature can create an infinite amount of life path chooses to take.
[Word Count: 1392]
Sources
"Body Image and the Media | MediaWise.org." MediaWise - Media Violence |Brain Development | Children and Media | Childhood Obesity. Web. 9 Apr. 2010. <http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/body_image.shtml>.
"Got Milk? - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia." Main Page - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 6 Apr. 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Got_milk%3F>.
