The singer reckons these types of programmes make young people just want to be famous, without caring what for.
"It's like 'What do you want to do when you grow up? I want to be famous. What for? It doesn't matter.'" She said young people should want to do something else first, not just want to be famous for the sake of being famous.
There seems to be a growing obsession with fame at the moment. That is being promoted in the “mainstream” media, and it is particularly aimed at young people.
On TV there has been a definite theme running from the first “docusoaps” through to Big Brother (channel4). This theme consisted first in following the lives of ordinary people in their jobs and daily lives, these ordinary people becoming celebrities as their lives became known and reported on in the press. This has since been developed further, say on Shipwrecked (channel4), as people have been taken out of their usual lives and the way in which they interact and, in particular, argue and fight, is the entertainment. Big Brother is the latest extreme, with its house-prison and it has cameras everywhere.
Then we have all the recent programmes like Pop Idol, Pop Rivals and Fame Academy. This is not something new; talent contests have been around for many years, but now seem to have been taken to a new level. They are less about discovering talent, as about creating celebrity through the series themselves, the contestants are the stars ever since they appear on the show.
Why do people want to become famous? One motive might be just what “fame” means the opposite of obscurity.
Fame brings with it all the media baggage, the gossip, and a host of fanatical followers ready to indulge into the celebrity’s life. But just why are people obsessed with the famous? Why do so many magazines sell that exist for only this purpose?
Celebrities in the limelight, what do they think of fame?
One good example is Rowan Atkinson can make millions laugh without uttering a word. But what he hates about fame is that people expect him to be funny all the time. “They see me on the screen and expect me to be like that when I'm walking down the street minding my own business. I have to disappoint them, I'm afraid” -Rowan Atkinson
Ruby wax once mentioned on her TV show what fame is...“Celebrity is a fantastic substitute for mommy and daddy's mess-ups. I think fame can be a high-octane, addictive thing and I've certainly craved attention in my time but fame cannot compensate for what you lack. Anyone who gets off on being a celebrity is sick. I mean ill, really ill." -Ruby Wax
"Somebody will become a star just by being on a reality show. It is 15 minutes of fame, literally, you don't have to sleep with the president any more". - Jackie Collins
(quoted from various articles)
As an actor trying to get into the industry I don’t think I would want to be famous. I believe theirs many type of fame, one is being where your noticed in the industry your in, or theirs fame where your in the media’s eye. As an actor I would just like to have a steady career. I’m not looking for fame and I would try and stay away from it, because once you’ve been portrayed as someone then people have their opinions of you and its hard to get work, like many actors on Eastenders. You don’t see actors that have appeared on Eastenders on TV now. Fame as a whole scares me at the moment, as a career could be made or dropped in a matter of minutes, also how far people will go to become famous (big brother, pop idol). Many celebrities are living like prisoners in their own homes i.e. Michael Jackson, he has to cover up his children’s face for security reason with masks which worries me, what kind of world are we living in? Sometimes fame and being a celebrity brings big fortune, but other times it brings headaches. But once you're famous you'll need an agent, a photographer, a bodyguard, an accountant, a therapist, a lawyer, and perhaps a good plastic surgeon, so do you want to play the fame game after all?
Bibliography
Many sources where used to produce this assignment on Fame. The internet was used to provide background information and up to date celebrity accounts with their opinions on Fame.
“ANDY WARHOL’S” book called Andy Warhol (1968) was used to provide an idea for a basic structure for this assignment, also used information from the book to act as an introduction on this assignment.
“Celebrity would no longer be earned through great deeds; all of us would eventually get our quarter hour of stardom.” -ANDY WARHOL
