Lifestyles of the Rich, Famous, and Idiotic
There is an epidemic sweeping our nation, hogging our internet space, and being plastered on every magazine cover on the newsstand (except the lame ones about fishing and knitting). It is…(cue the dramatic music)…Celebrity Stupidity. It happens every time someone famous smokes pot on camera, beats up their superstar girlfriend, or checks into rehab…again. And it never ends. Don’t believe me? Take a closer look at some of the most memorably stupid moments of the past few months:
- Michael Phelps gets caught smoking pot (on film!)
- Chris Brown battles Rihanna (and not in a dance-off)
- Rihanna reunites with Chris Brown (and invites him to come under her umbrella, ella, ella)
- Bristol Palin becomes a teenage mother
- Bristol Palin breaks up with her boyfriend/fiance/baby daddy roughly ten minutes later
- Lindsay Lohan is in approximately 84 accidents, all stupidity-related
- Ashlee Simpson-Wentz names her baby Bronx Mowgli
- Mandy Moore marries this guy
The moral of the story is that celebrities do stupid stuff. A lot. Like everyday. And when they do, there are about 80 bazillion websites reporting on it, saying the same thing: “He/She is a terrible role model!”
So, here’s my question for you, the fine, upstanding, unstupid readers of Hey Josh: Should celebrities even be considered role models? Just because someone can swim faster than a dolphin, sing and be pretty at the same time, or be the offspring of a former Vice Presidential candidate, does that make them worthy to be your role model? What determines whether or not a person is a role model at all? Should celebrities have to live by a higher standard because they’re in the spotlight? Dr. Drew just wrote a book on this very topic called “The Mirror Effect”, and in a recent interview, he said that teens and young adults are the most vulnerable to being influenced by celebrities because “they are the sponges of our culture. Their values are now being set. Are they really the values we want our young people to be absorbing?”
So, now we want to know what YOU think about celebrities being role models and what advice you’d sling to the rich and famous.
3 Comments
I guess I kinda think that every person on earth should be doing their best to be a good role model, but beyond that, I don’t think celebreties should have more pressure to be all around good people than anyone else. It’s your choice who you decide is going to influence your decisions in life. If I look up to someone (not just as a cool, talented person, but as a role model and moral guide) just because they have a pretty voice, that’s a bad call on my part. I admire my fav. singers because they have talent. But I pick people I know with sound judgement and strong morals to be my role models.
I think we put too much pressure and expectation on celebraties to be good role models.
We also give their stuff ups, mistakes and the stupid things they do, too much publicitiy.. why do we need to know all these things?
Does it really matter that Russell Brands is a womeniser.. do we need to tell the world? wont that just inspire some of them?
Should we be showing photos of Zac Efron with the naked girl to our kids who love him in High School Musical? Just because he starred in a kids movie doesn’t make him a role model for our kids.
Don’t we all know by now that Lindsay Lohan and Amy Waterhouse are in and out of rehab… do we need to hear it every week? Doesn’t this make it sound ‘normal’ to kids?
Chris Brown best up his girlfriend.. so we tell all the teenage boys that the guy that thousands of girls love and admire is a woman basher.. great… as if they needed another excuse. In a few months chances are that everyone will hve forgotten the bad he has done – it will seem to the world that there we nearly no consequences for his actions and the world will go on loving him.
If we the people, stopped buying this ‘information’ the media would have no reason to put it out there.. but why is it that we are so drawn to these people?
What I don’t understand, is why do we place so much importance on these celebrities? I’m not going to try and talk myself up, but I have met my fair share of celebrities and it was never anything special. More often than not, they are short and kinda awkward. The only time I was ever starstruck was when I was at the Celine Dion concert (I kinda have a weakness for her) and I was not anywhere even close to the front of the stage. My point is, they are just people who have excelled in one area or another. More often than not, they’re not even that great at what they do. My heroes are not people who are on tv, in movies, singers or even sports stars. I look up to the silent heroes in mine and other peoples lives.