Celebrities: Merit and Talent

To be or to become a celebrity, there is an inevitable truth to the fact that one will have to give up something in one's life in order to achieve that ultimate goal. It could be one's public image, one's personal life, one's education, et cetera. Nowadays, even more people, especially the young ones, are trying to break out into the world of celebrity and I often see them giving up their college education (or high school education, for that matter). It could be very necessary to give up a vital part of one's life; after all, I am just an outsider looking through the windows of celebrities lives portrayed by the mass media. It might not be in my place to judge celebrities' life-changing decisions, but as an onlooker, it is quite inevitable to put my own input into these situations.

To say that being a celebrity is a "punishment of talent" is also true. We often comment on how excellent the actress/actor portrays a character, or how great of a performer a singer is. But in doing so, I believe we are only puncturing the celebrities' lives with needles of expectations. In that industry, if one thing goes wrong--unless one has the best publicity team--that celebrity's life will dwindle down to square one (or worse). We look on as the people of talent enter this industry and I know most of us wish or at least picture ourselves to be in their places. What we often miss is the fact that celebrities are like artifacts showcased in museums--enclosed and silenced to some degree.

Lucy Yeho Hwang
September 23, 2014