The Perils of Fame

I've been visiting the celeb-gossip blogs and have decided something. As entertaining as the foibles of the famous are (and yes, they are without a doubt highly entertaining), there's something frightening and inhumane about the way they are treated at times. Case in point: Britney Spears. Yeah, she's annoying. Yeah, her 15 minutes should have been up following the Mickey Mouse Club. Yeah, she married a moron. Yeah, she's divorcing said moron. Yeah, she shaved her head and went off the deep end. Yeah, she's made some mistakes with her older child when he was a baby (and I'm referencing her older child because her younger child seems to be invisible). But who amongst us has never made an error or had an accident involving a child? How many of us have failed to be in the right place at the right time to prevent a child from injuring him/herself? I'm not talking about the car seat incident. I'm talking about the fall from the high chair and the stumble that's made the latest gossip go rounds - culminating in those perfect little message board mothers crying out for CPS. I'm not a mom, but I've worked with kids and learned early on that children don't always stay where you put them nor do as you expect them to do. Especially babies. Babies have minds of their own and their evil genius is astounding. People trip, people make mistakes. But an average human being is not crucified in the press for those mistakes. Celebrities are.

I can't even begin to imagine what life is like with cameras flashing in your face when you try to have a lunch with your friends, when you try to get your hair cut, when you try to get your nails done, when you step into the store to pick up a gallon of milk. I can't imagine what it must be like to never have a moment when you can just look at shoes without paparazzi following your every move. You can tell me until you're blue in the face that they "signed on for this" when they sold their souls to the William Morris Agency, and I won't agree. They signed on to be public figures at public events. But when they are home with their families, when they are out to dinner with their friends, when they are enjoying a concert, they are people. They deserve some time out of the spotlight. Trust me, they do enough dumb things when they're in the spotlight for the public to ridicule them for (and yes, sometimes they deserve all the ridicule they can get - I'm talking to YOU, Tom Cruise).

I think what drove this home for me (and was made even more apparent by the Britney stumble) was a true story from some time back. I was at Northsix covering the Danielson show (great show, by the way - I still have "Did I Step on Your Trumpet" stuck in my head and it's been quite awhile). In the audience was Sufjan Stevens. Now, I am a huge Sufjan fan. I've spent some time talking to the man. We are friendly now, but weren't then. This was a Saturday night, Sufjan was at Northsix seeing one of his best friends' bands play at their record release party, and he was not there in the capacity of Sufjan Stevens, Indie Rock God. He was just a guy supporting a friend. He was standing near us for a bit, but we let him be and enjoyed the show (and I will admit to enjoying a glance at his fine ass before I realized whose ass I was coveting. Then I remembered - thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's ass - and I looked away). Others in the crowd that night were not so accommodating. There was a group of faux indie slackers next to us - the kind who pontificate about the merits of the National while they adjust the starched collars of their pinstriped oxford shirts and dust off their pennyloafers. Two of the guys in this group were heard to say that they had spotted Sufjan and intended to go and bother him (their exact words). They squealed like stuck piglets in heat every time he passed by and at one point, one of the them (Mr. Oxford Shirt of Doom) stood behind Sufjan and humped the air behind him. I hope and pray that Sufjan wasn't aware of this, because I do believe he truly would have been mortified (of course, he'll find out when he reads this - sorry Sufjan). The one thing I fully realized was that Sufjan Stevens is a quiet, unassuming, fairly normal (if not insanely talented) man who deserved respect, not to be squealed at and air humped without his knowledge.

I think it should be that way for everyone. Everyone deserves some time to be treated just like another member of the crowd. Whether you create amazing music or crappy noise, star in Oscar quality films or B movies, you still have the right to be another face in the crowd. You still have a right to make the mistakes that every new mother makes. You still have the right to get pissed at your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse. You have the right to wear dumpy sweats and an ill fitting shirt and not brush your hair. And you have the right to do it without cameras in your face or idiots humping the air behind you.