Celebrities Essay, Research Paper

Celebrities Are Human

A star is defined as an artistic performer or athlete whose leading role or superior performance is acknowledged. These stars play too intricate a part of our lives. Despite what many people believe, celebrities are the same as you and I. These people are entertainers and are not superior to the every day, nine to five, average, work person. They are doing their jobs as we are doing ours.

Anytime a person turns on the television these days, it is almost impossible not to see a celebrity being honored in some way. The Total Request Live (TRL) show is such an example. The television show takes place in a downtown, New York, corner building. Outside the show is a hoard of adoring fans wanting to see celebrities, as well as to be seen on television themselves. There are numerous people who bring outrageous signs in hopes of getting the camera turned onto them. These are the types of people who are led by celebrities; they follow their every move, and try to emulate them in some fashion. These are also the people, who, if ever they would encounter a celebrity wouldn t know what to say, for fear of getting embarrassed in front of their idol, their favorite celebrity. The celebrities thrive on this energy and popularity. It is what keeps them above the rest of us when they actually aren t.

There are, however, the celebrities that don t think that they are better than the rest of humanity, and have more time for their fans than to just make them buy their album or watch their movie. I have personally encountered a few of these rare celebrities. I am a musician and I enjoy going to concerts to watch other musicians. One of my favorite concerts to go to was Lilith Fair. Lilith Fair is a celebration of women in music. It features many acts with either an entire female ensemble, or simply a female vocalist. It was also founded by one of my favorite band s leaders, Sarah McLachlan. I have always studied her music and especially the stylings of her lead guitarist, Sean Ashby. This year I was fortunate enough to meet most of her band.

I met her bass player, Brian Munato, before his set. He was walking around in the crowd as any average person would. Most celebrities would do this to get attention, or to get the crowd going before they play. But, Brian was talking with people as if they were his friends. I didn t say much to him though because, even though I don t like to admit it, I fall into the category of fans who freezes when they meet a star.

The lead singer from a group called Wild Strawberries, who simply goes by Roberta, set aside time after her set to sign autographs for her fans. Though she wrote the same message to almost everyone, it was still a kind gesture to recognize that she does have fans and that fans are what give her money. I ve read many articles on her and she believes that celebrities aren t better people than the general public, but that they simply have stronger talents in what they do. Roberta and her husband, who is also in the band, should know this for the fact that they also have degrees in medicine, which they both still practice. Roberta is a psychiatrist and her husband is a surgeon. If that couple isn t an example of celebrities knowing their place, then I don t know who would be.

I also had the fortune of meeting my second favorite guitarist of all time, Sean Ashby. When he was on stage he was his normal character self. But, when he came off stage, he was more than happy to speak with people and sign autographs. He and I spoke a short while after I got over my freeze-and-tremble stage. He was quite happy that I was interested in him, and what he had to say, instead of Sarah McLachlan. Speaking with Sean was very much like speaking to a close friend, or a relative. Also when Sean had to leave to take down his setup, he wasn t rude about it; he said his good-byes and off he went.

This attitude, however, was not shared throughout the band. Sarah McLachlan s self-loving drummer and husband, was very rude. He didn t have the time to sign simple autographs for a small group of five to eight people. He seemed to have the idea that if he were to come over, then everybody would rush over for an autograph and he would be overwhelmed. That is the type of attitude that keeps celebrities thinking that they are above most people.

Ashwin isn t the only rude celebrity whom I ve met. I also met a semi-celebrity when I went to Disney World; his name is Jesse Camp. Jesse was a slightly known V.J. to anyone who watched MTV at that time. Not only was he rude and obnoxious, but, he was on drugs at the time. How dare a celebrity take himself out in public in that type of condition, especially to a family theme park such as Disney World.

Celebrities like Jesse and Ashwin are the types of stars that people have to deal with every day. How much easier the world of entertainment would be if the celebrities didn t believe that they had free reign over the general public. There would be fewer killings among the rappers, the law would uphold justice evenly for the entire country, and the drug situation would definitely be lowered if the law cam down as hard upon celebrities as they do on the rest of our civilians. If fans keep idolizing these celebrities like they do it is going to get worse. Also, I would like to congratulate the non-ego celebrities for keeping their heads on straight. Celebrities aren t an every day phenomenon; they are average people and should be treated as such.