Celebrities

I wish there was another word than 'celebrity' for the reality TV type. Rather than 'famous' I'd assert 'infamous' but what is the equivalent for celebrity?   

I suppose thats ok if you can do something you love.  I'd like to love my job, but it's really just a way of paying the bills.  I can find some form of satisfaction sometimes in dealing with people moaning at me all day down the phone, but usually only if I can get my own back in some way.  I wouldn't say there's any love there in it though.

There's celebrities, and then there's celebrities.  It's the people who are famous for simply being famous who really get me.  The kind who have to revitalise their ailing career by going on stupid reality shows and submitting themselves to indignities.  Much of this 'famous for the sake of it' thing came about as a result of things like Big Brother, where totally useless egotists made pratts of themselves because it was the only thing they could do to get their stupid faces on the telly. 

But then there are the people who are rightly famous for doing interesting and valuable things.  Artists, actors, writers, scientists.  And people who dedicate their lives to important causes, such as famine relief (though not Mother Teresa, who was an awful woman).  I'd like to meet people like Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther King, Dickens, Shakespeare.  Those kinds of people.  Informally, too, like over a drink in a bar (Gandhi probably would have been a problem there!).  These are people whose lives mean something in the grander scheme, and who make a difference.  They leave their mark on the world and leave it maybe a better place.

But Katie Price?  Kim Kardashian?  All that lot?  Forget it.  Dross.

lol

Glad someone else feels he same way! The minutiae of someone's private life doesn't impact upon their work generally and so it does seem more than a little odd that 'fans' focus on these background details so much when it was (presumably) the person's work that first attracted admiration. Especially things such as a celebrity's new haircut  :/    I have no idea what many of my favourite authors look like let alone how they style their hair. 

I hadn't considered the type of 'celebrity' employed by the likes of Big Brother and the rest of the swathe of 'reality shows', eeeek!!  If nothing else, I suppose they at least prove the 'Five Minutes of Fame' thing. 

I suppose I can see how a shared interest in these things could be a bonding exercise. Or perhaps a competition of sorts to see who can get closest to or more noticed by the celebrity, maybe even a little of the hope that some of the 'glitter' might rub off on them (?). There does seem to be a preoccupation with 'becoming famous' regardless of how that's achieved, even notoriety seems to be held in esteem. It just all seems a bit (a lot) shallow and I think I too would rather not participate than settle for being a clone.        

The media has one purpose and one purpose only ~ to control the masses and the majority of people are most definitely controlled by the media. You only have to look at who owns the big media companies, the big names in the pharmaceutical and food industry’s. It’s not difficult to work it out but the media don’t care because they already have control of the majority of people and that’s good enough for them. 

I enjoy everything I do because I only do what I love  

The "big chunky paragraphs" don't bother me, the down arrow on my keyboard helps me skip by them in seconds when things inevitably become obtuse. Again. Enjoy working on it though!  

Oh definitely, I agree with you totally, it’s all about rewards and costs. I just thought you meant you were one of those hard core ones that I see and admire who really can get on without the cooperation of an harmonious environment. 

I see these people in my job as a social worker and mental health practitioner sometimes. They just seem to glide around, almost as if they’re walking on water or floating on air. They  cause no harm or offence to anybody but require no cooperation from the others. I love watching them, they seem to fill me with a sense of grace.  I’m far too much of a chatter box for that. Lol. 

But I agree, I wouldn’t go to any lengths any more to prevent me from being the outsider. If it compromised my integrity or put too much pressure on me, I wouldn’t do that any more, although I have done it, many times, to some degree, and maybe I will again, to some degree, but I am more conscious of my own needs now so it wouldn’t be a regular thing. 

I agree totally. It’s something that we each have to navigate to find the balance that suits us best. I’m getting closer to that balance and as I do, I see more of my contribution to it and how I have often neglected that side of it. I think I’m a lot gentler and kinder to people these days and I’m more able to cultivate good friendships and although I am enjoying other people more than I did, I still like my own space. So yeah, it’s currently ongoing for me but I do sense and feel that I’m getting closer to finding the right balance for me, although I may still have some trial and error to experience along the way. 

For me, for sure, I have realised that the cost of not being me is a far higher cost than being an outsider. I have learned that through experience and it’s been a very good lesson for me to learn. I think I used to glide through my life oblivious to most things, which is how I prefer it I think, lol, but I do like having friendships and interactions with people and I accept my part in that now. 

So yeah, from which ever way I look at it or from what ever level of existence, I would agree with everything you said but I still have this image of you going about your day, beautifully poised etc but almost detached from any hostilities. It reminds me of a woman I used to work with and I could sit and watch her movements for hours, I was mesmerised by her. The way she picked things up, made phone calls, the way she spoke, it was like there was no rush in her whatsoever. She was a fairly quiet person but I was totally mesmerised with her. I don’t know why, but thinking of you brings her image to mind. I haven’t thought about her in a long time. Thank you. Even thinking of her has a calming effect on me. 

So I don’t know if your intent today was to bring a sense of calmness, lightness and fun into my life today, but you did. Thank you. I trust you have a lovely day as well. 

I’d much rather work in a harmonious environment than be an outsider, you’re much more hard core than me!

Haha, I am not hardcore in the least.

I suspect everyone wants to find friends and be valued for being themselves, and I am no exception. 

However, sometimes, I think much in this life is about 'reward and cost' (and not in a monetary sense.) Sometimes to cost of fitting in, if it means you are not able to be yourself, are not valued for being you, can be higher still than the cost (pain) of being an outsider? 

I guess this 'transaction' is something that each of us must continually navigate until we find a 'balance' which suits us best? 

Are you suggesting that the majority of the human race get their education, their ethics and morals etc from the media? 

Not 'the majority' perhaps but I do think many seem to, yes.  

And I would go further to suggest that the media has a phenomenal (and potentially damaging) influence, politically, ethically, morally and holistically, on society as a whole.

And I believe that it would be very naive to imagine otherwise. 

Are you suggesting that the majority of the human race get their education, their ethics and morals etc from the media? 

I’m glad you were able to find other ways to bond with your colleagues other than tv programs etc, although I do find it interesting listening to some of the things people talk about that is on tv, it doesn’t make me want to go and buy a tv or anything but I do enjoy listening about some of the things that are on tv from the people who watch them. I think I’d invite myself round to someone’s house though who had a tv so I could watch something if that was a way of making connections and bonding with my colleagues. I’d much rather work in a harmonious environment than be an outsider, you’re much more hard core than me! Lol! I try to create harmony at work as being the outsider wouldn't really work for me, but I admire people like yourself who just get on with it and sod the rest :-) I bet it’s a very peaceful way to be. I’d just leave if I could t get on with my colleagues. I’m a ***, definitely not hard core in that respect. 

Have you ever had an interest in anything, something that you really enjoyed, such as collecting fossils or spotting trains or something?

Maybe you haven’t and that’s why you don’t understand other people who do have a passion for something. I’m not sure how to explain it to somebody who hasn’t got any passions or interests beyond Father Christmas.

It sounds like you have even less interest in people and that you have some notion that famous people are somehow different from non famous people. They are different for people who have a love of movies and that kind of thing but only because they relate to their passion. I meet so called famous people relatively regularly although I wouldn’t have a clue if they or someone else didn’t point it out to me as I don’t watch tv programs or movies and of course, when it is pointed out to be, it makes no difference because I still don’t know what they’re talking about! Lol! But I take people as I find them anyway.

I suppose it’s called diversity and although the autistic population is considered to be diverse, often the thinking of the autistic person isn’t diverse.

As I said, I think it’s difficult to explain what a passion or interest is to somebody who hasn’t got one. You might just have to accept that we’re not all the same, some people get great joy from their passions, hobby’s and interests and from meeting their hero’s, in fact I’m taking a friend to a concert tomorrow night and she’s totally excited about meeting the guys that she loves to listen to on her stereo or however she listens to them. She’s paid extra money so we can have a meet and greet ~ I’ll be in my wellies (of course) and my old clothes and I’ll be taking my book and phone with me because I have little interest in singers etc so I’ll need something to do while I’m there but she’s already planning what she’s wearing, she’ll be putting her make up on etc, she said she wants to look her best, especially for the photos that she’s paid for in advance! Which I find amusing to watch but she enjoys it so why not. She loves music and this is her favourite band and I think it’s only the second time they’ve been to the U.K., she roped me into going the first time as well but this time she’s upped the anti because the whole band is here, so we’ve got photo sessions with the guys and we get to spend a few hours with them before the gig starts. Not my idea of fun at all but I get pleasure out of watching my friend have such a good time. I think you have to have an open mind and see that we’re all different, we all like different things and one man’s poison is another man’s passion, as they say. Maybe you could work on acceoting yourself and once you achieved that, you would find you accept others naturally, you don’t have to work on it. It sounds like you’re not that interested in other people at all, even the ones who’s work you admire and that’s perfectly ok, just try and see that they’re just ordinary people getting on with their lives in a way that suits, excites, delights and interests them. I think it’s puzzling to you because you don’t have an interest and you have little to no inteterest in people. I wouldn’t worry about it, put it down to diversity.

Sorry, just noticed, big chunky paragraphs again! Doh! I am working on it. 

Hi Endymion,

I don’t get the celebrity thing either. It seems to be a 'whole world’ that I am not a part of.

I appreciate really talented writers and actors as their skills bring stories and films to life for me. But generally, I am not interested in their private lives.

The rest of the ‘Celebrity Culture’ on T.V, in the media and in magazines…I tend to find largely ignorant and grotesque. And the nature of many of today’s t.v programmes just makes me really concerned about the future of the human race, both intellectually and ethically.  

I therefore don’t watch much t.v, other than the occasional documentary or film; I much prefer to read instead, books are my life.    

I have found in the workplace that a whole lot of ‘bonding’ between people seems to go on over celebrities’ behaviours, fashions, and t.v programmes, like Big Brother. But if having to watch an episode of Big Brother is the only way I am able to find a commonality with those I work with, I would much rather remain the outsider thank you! Haha.