The Dark Side of Fame
Many creative people, including actors, actively pursue fame, or at least endure it, as a way to advance their careers. But fame may also be driven by hidden emotional needs, and can lead to harmful expectations and distorted thinking on both sides. …
The recent Golden Globe Awards provided an example. Scarlett Johansson was interviewed by designer Isaac Mizrahi, who actually groped her, claiming he wanted to see how her dress was made.
She graciously said later, “Someone I have never met before fondles me for his own satisfaction. Like he doesn’t know how a dress works. He’s a guy that’s starting his TV career and he’s making a bit of an exciting moment for himself. I can’t be angry at him.”
But his outrageous behavior is indicative of how celebrities are often treated. When you are famous enough, it seems, you are no longer simply a human being to some journalists, who seem to use fame as an excuse to set aside ordinary considerations of respect and propriety. People who “need” fame may tolerate a lot of disrespect to get more attention.
Virginia Madsen (“Sideways”) noted that Lindsay Lohan has been asked questions the media would never ask of boys: “In every interview I read, somebody was asking her about her weight and, ‘Do you throw up in the bathroom?’ I mean, no one asks teenage boys, ‘Do you have pubic hair yet?’ Whereas they’ll ask a teenage girl, ‘Are you still a virgin?’”
continued in article: The Dark Side of Fame - by Douglas Eby
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