Why Teenager's Idols Are Mostly from the Sporting and Entertainment World

The average teenager's room is covered on all four walls with posters of musicians, actors and sports stars. For many teenagers, their role model is a Hollywood star or a giant who can 'slam-dunk' a basketball. The lure of these superstars can be explained in many ways.

Firstly, it is well known that teenagers look for a role model in their desire to be accepted and in their search for self-worth. Naturally, the clever geniuses who sell glossy products and cute badges bearing the faces of teen-idols realise this and are exploiting the fact. In the entertainment world, people are beautiful and witty. They are exciting and funny, quite unlike the very ordinary people who live outside of the television screen or the stereo set. Has anyone ever seen a movie star like Kim Basinger with an ugly pus-filled pimple? People from the land of 'glitz' are always young. They never grow old. In that world, one disappears once one grows old. It is the same with the world of sports. We never see a middle-aged, pot-bellied man sprinting through a hundred meter race in ten seconds. Indeed, every teen desires the perfect features of the screen kings and queens, the perfectly toned bodies performing skilfully on the pitch and the crystal clear voices on the radio. Only the good side is seen.

Naturally famous entertainers, sportsmen and sportswomen are very talented people. The less talented are all filtered out in the climb to the top. These people represent the impeccable qualities that a teenager would naturally desire. However, these alone do not make an idol out of a mere human. That is done by a powerful entity known as the media. In the world of sports and entertainment superstars, the paparazzi enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the big names. The newsmen make the stars shine brighter than they actually are. This in turn causes the public to want the newsmen to tell them more about these stars. This, and the stars' publicity machines, raise them to the status of gods. The adults, being more mature are more immune to the media's attacks. Teenagers, however, are more impressionable and less sure about their identities. They would thus tend to look to these gods for direction. The media feed the young with daily devotions to the stars. Everywhere one looks, the media can be found - the radio, television, the tabloids.

Another reason why youths prefer to model themselves after famous stars to their own parents or wiser beings is because they are able to relate to their idols. First of all, the famous entertainers or sports stars are either young or young at heart. Secondly, television stars act in shows about everyday life. They face the same problems many of us face and bring beautiful endings to their problems. The stars overcome obstacles in the show and we admire the actors' ability. Singers sing about love and we relate to these songs. Sportsmen play the very same sports that we enjoy in the backyard or at the community centre, but they show incredible skills that we can only dream about.

These factors create a strong bond between the teenager and his idol. While this may be non-traditional, the great power of the stars can be used to nurture the youths who idolise them.