Celebrities who go bad

CELEBRITIES WHO GO BAD

Actors, entertainers, and sport celebrities are the people we envy. Even I at 74 years of age sometimes look upon these celebrities as if they were super human, wishing that I could be as rich as them, as strong as them and as happy as them. I want to have as much fun as they do. However, in reality, their lives cannot be that much fun considering that they have to live under a microscope and have the whole world peering at them and judging them and telling them how to behave.

Experts say that as long as there are those who pull ahead of the crowd in fame or fortune, there will be a curious crowd wanting to follow.

There are celebrities that are star struck by other celebrities — even major politicians are more likely to sit up and take notice of an issue when a celebrity is doing the talking. Hitler who was the most powerful person in Europe prior to the Second World War was so star-struck on an Italian princess; he was literally tongue-tied when he was introduced to her.

Unfortunately, some of them end up ruining their professional lives while projecting a fantasy image onto a screen or stage or on TV or in magazines. I am speaking of the drunks, the criminals, the crazies and the utterly stupid. What makes these people who have so much to get from life, flush their lives down the toilet? They're not just screwing up their own lives; they're making a mockery out of their own professions.

Millions of children, adolescents and adults alike who really should know better --- identify themselves with sociopathological pseudo-role models in the guise of celebrities such as movie and television stars, entertainers, and pumped-up, hyped-up athletes – some of who are morally deficient and so full of themselves, they act as if the rest of us are second-class citizens. Their outrageous conduct is to their detriment and to our loss.

Celebrities undoubtedly have problems they must constantly face, not the least of which is contemplating their own half-lives. Some problems intrude into their lives from the outside such as rabid fans, gold diggers, paparazzi, critics, and competition.

"To be a celebrity means to have more than the usual assaults on one's ego," says Charles Figley, Ph.D., director of the Psychosocial Stress Research Program at Florida State University. "You're very vulnerable to the personal evaluations of other people. The public is ultimately in control of whether your career continues."

I suppose most of us who are not celebrities can act the fool on occasion because we are not being displayed on TV and in newspapers and magazines. But celebrities surely cannot be oblivious of the fact that even if there are no paparazzi following them everywhere they go, there are many ordinary citizens who have cell phones that take pictures and are ready to snap away when a celebrity who happens upon the scene, innocently stumbles on a curb. The next thing the unfortunate celebrity knows is; his or her picture is displayed on the front page of the National Enquirer with the word ‘drunk’ printed under the picture. This piece isn’t about those who innocently look stupid. It is about those who deliberately act stupid.

Humans tend to base a lot of their lives on these so-called ‘celebrities’. They buy the clothes the celebrities endorse, they go to the restaurants and clubs that they go to, and they buy perfume and cologne and even insurance they tell them to buy. Subliminally, they think in their minds that if they do everything that the celebrities do; then they will be just as cool as they are or what they think they are.

I believe the public finds the dysfunctional manner in which many famous individuals carry on to be very interesting. They may not find it appealing, but they do want to hear about it. Their foolish conduct attracts the public because everyone wants to see them fall down. There is that natural feeling that is in all of us of not being as bad off as the entertainer who is arrested for driving while impaired. After all, it is that celebrity whose life is being destroyed in front of us, not ours. Unfortunately, it is our immature youth who are becoming familiar with the antics of the famous and try to be like them without realizing that they are mimicking losers.

Today’s young people idolize celebrities such as Parris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and others of their ilk due to television’s portrayal of these people in the news. Our society has lost its moral values, which has led our youth to glamorize unacceptable behaviour, the type of behaviour that our parents frowned upon in the past. Every insulting, disgusting, inappropriate behaviour of these celebrity-losers you can think of is being blasted on the news on TV as ‘entertainment’. Unfortunately, our immature youth don’t realize that there is a strong message to be found in what they see on TV when a loser is shown being led to the court to face a criminal charge. The message is; “If I act like that person, someday I too will be led into a courtroom facing a similar charge.”

In September 2006, Paris Hilton, model and movie star, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content of 0.08%, the minimum at which it is illegal to drive in California. Hilton's drivers license was subsequently suspended in November 2006. In January 2007 she pleaded no contest to the alcohol-related reckless driving charge. Her punishment was 36 months' probation and fines of about $1,500. Then on January 15, 2007, Hilton was pulled over for driving with a suspended licence. On February 27, 2007 Hilton was caught driving 70 MPH in a 35 MPH zone, again with a suspended license. She also did not have her headlights on even though it was after dark.

Singer and actress Lindsay Lohan squandered what questionable talent she has in an orgy of self-destructive meltdown. It's was not just drink, but drugs, bad behaviour and criminal charges that made her what she is today---a loser. She joined the pretty-girl mugshot club when she was arrested for possession of cocaine, drunk driving, transporting a narcotic into a custodial facility and driving with a suspended license.

Britney Spears' life has been emblazoned across the tabloids too, after an interview with OK! magazine descended into farce. The troubled singer allowed her dog to crap all over a designer Zac Posen gown, wiped her dirty hands on another designer frock, went to the toilet with the door open and finally fled the interview still wearing $14,000 worth of clothes borrowed for the fashion shoot. Her conduct had the stylist in tears and the magazine picking up a hefty bill. Britney recently lost temporary custody of her kids to her ex --- a dancer/rapper who left his then-pregnant girlfriend when he hooked up with Britney only a few years ago. Britney was actually seen driving her car with her baby on her lap. What a stupid woman. We watched the sheer wonderment of what Britney has done to herself. It seemed as if we were witnessing a meltdown unmatched since the Wicked Witch of the West disappeared into a puddle of water.

Winona Ryder, a two-time Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actress was convicted of stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from a store in Beverly Hills in California.

Remy Ma was recently arrested on charges of attempted murder in a shooting outside a New York nightspot. The ex-Terror Squad MC (real name: Reminisce Smith) had been sought for questioning in the shooting of a 23-year-old woman in July 2007 after an argument near a bar in Lower Manhattan. She was also arrested on charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

Remember when Pee-Wee Herman, star of a children’s TV show was masturbating at a movie theatre and of course we can’t ignore Michael Jackson’s payment of millions of dollars as a payoff for the presumed molestation of his young victim.

Kiefer Sutherland, star of the series, ‘24’ was busted on suspicion of impaired driving in West Hollywood in October 20, 2007 after allegedly blowing more than twice the legal limit of .08. This was the actor’s second charge in the past five years — he was arrested in 2004 for the same thing.

Actor Tom Sizemore faces up to four years in prison at either Folsom or San Quentin following his recent surrender to a Los Angeles court for his latest arrest warrant - again for meth possession. When the “Black Hawk Down” actor, 45, was busted on May 8, 2007 for possible probation violation, he had two bags of the crystal methamphetaemin and pipes on him.

“Prison Break” star Lane Garrison played an inmate on TV, and now he is actually going to serve time in prison - for real. The troubled actor plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter and two other alcohol-related charges for an accident December 2006 in which he crashed his car and killed one of his teenage passengers. Garrison is expected to get up to 7 years in jail.

Singer-songwriter Boy George was arrested for allegedly kidnapping a male escort and chaining him to a wall. According to the male escort, the former Culture Club front man and another man imprisoned him when he went to the singer’s flat in Shoreditch, East London as a hired photographic model.

“Will & Grace” star Eric McCormack had a hissy fit aboard a plane bound for Vancouver when the crew told him that a booster seat he brought for his 4-year-old son, Finnigan, was too large and had to be stowed in the luggage hold. “Eric screeched like a banshee when he didn’t get his way. He yelled at crew members - telling them his family had used the seat on many flights in the past. What a liar. The price tag was still on it.

Actor Jason Wahler, 20, a star of MTV’s “The Hills” and “Laguna Beach” was arrested in April 2007 for investigation of assault and criminal trespass. He hurled racial slurs at a cop in Seattle when he was arrested after punching a hotel security guard and passing out drunk in a hallway. He also has legal troubles in four states including: New York, California, North Carolina, and Washington.

Celebrity athletes have taken some serious hits, getting caught in any number of unflattering situations. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick charged with conducting a dog fighting operation on his property. San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds set the all-time home run record under a steroid cloud. Heavyweight boxer, Mike Tyson was convicted of rape. Runners, Ben Johnson and Marion Jones both brought shame to the Olympics because of steroid substances in their blood and cyclist Floyd Landis brought shame to the Tour de France for the same reason. The list goes on endlessly.

When a celebrity admits to using alcohol and drugs because of the pressure, people feel empathetic and say that they love them anyway. They hope things work out and when they emerge from rehab winning the battle over the alcohol and drugs, the public generally forgives them for their past indiscretions.

The concern I have is the problem of young people continuing to use disgraced celebrities as role models. There are many honest and moral celebrities to choose from. Our children don’t have to choose the wrong ones as their role models.

There are exceptions however. If disgraced celebrities rehabilitate themselves and continue in their professions as honest and moral persons, then they are suitable role models because the lesson they teach our children is; it is possible to change one’s ways and forgiveness is an admirable trait in human beings.