How We Are Responsible for Celebrity Irresponsibility

According to the news girlfriend, Inga Marchand was reported being yanked into court on a possible parole violation. It seems she does not want to be treated as "one of them." In Westchester, New York, a guy named Elmore Rual Torn was arrested on DUI charges after a car accident. In an incident a few years before the man had been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Apparently, Elmore can be quite unruly and arrogant when drunk. In the previous arrest the man ranted and raved, "Do you know who I am?" Now, the man is seventy-five and better well preserved than my own seventy-five year old father who remains virtually homebound. Must be the alcohol because he seems to have an affection for it. The natural reaction when you read these things is to say, "Where do they get off thinking they are better than the rest of us". By the way, we know these two scoundrels better as rapper Foxy Brown and actor Rip Torn. You know Foxy for her music and Rip from his many TV and film characters such as Chief Zed from Men In Black. We made them famous and we gave them permission to think they are better than the rest of us.

The arrogance of celebrity.

You have to love it because we gave the ability to do and say these things to them. We hand it out readily not only to the stars of arts and sports, but to a new class of people deemed famous for being famous. While many of these people soar to the heights of their notoriety, we give them permission to rise above and ascend to pedestals.

Why do we do this?

We need something to look up to in order to guide us through our own mundane lives. In a sense, many people live an imaginary celebrity life through them. When we discover them, we ride the waves they make getting to the top. When they achieve, we achieve with them because we feel like we are part of their phenomenon due to our belief in them. Everyone at one time or another has had in their possession a picture of some celebrity we admired. It does not matter if they actually did anything relevant as long as they touched us in some way. That is what makes them special.

How do we contribute to their behavior?

In our frenzy of admiration, we condone, encourage and even make excuses for them. In some instances, we even just look away and pretend some of their outrageous actions never happened or were a bad joke.

What they don't know.

We are fickle. What we have created, we can take away. At some point, we begin to hold them accountable for their actions. They respond like the four year old you give an open candy bar to and tell, "You can't eat that." One course they begin to eat, sometimes right in front of us.

The set up and why.

We lull these celebrities into complacency with our adulterations. We give them power. Our giving over our attentions to them causes this power. What they do not realize is that we are sadistic and cruel. When they need us the most, we cut the power. Our nature is to love the underdog. They are no longer an underdog. We respond by kicking the pedestal right out from under them. Now, we have the power. They need us and we don't need them. We've moved on. This is happening faster and faster as our attention spans change as quickly as a broadband download.

Can it happen to anyone?

Yes, it can and will. Look at the singer-actress (okay that's debatable to some) Madonna. For many years every time we began to turn away from her, she recreated himself and drew us back. The woman has had more rebounds then a bungee jumping contest. Yet, like with the bungee jumper the rebounding effect gets lower and lower. Eventually, you hit bottom. Madonna's not at the bottom, but she is not as high as she used to be.

Therefore, the next time you pick up the paper and read about Inga, Elmore or any of the others. Do not blame them. We are responsible for their plight. Many of them won't hesitate to tell us that either. We are responsible for the celebrity that can't stop drinking or abide by the rules the rest of us have to. We created the multi million-dollar athlete that went through high school and college, but still cannot even read. Maybe we should think about that as we realize what we create, we can take away.