I have always dreamed of being in the spotlight. Singing, acting, dancing, whatever. It didn’t matter to me. I just wanted FAME. Now, I’m not so sure. The scandal, rumors, and lies associated with the life of a celebrity seem to outweigh the benefits of renowned adoration and money. Besides, we all know money can’t buy you happiness, or love for that matter. (Don’t believe me – Ask New York if she has found Mr. Right yet) I would much rather have the love and adoration of a husband and children one day. The TRUE love that is. My life – Perfect the way it is.
-Blessings!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Privacy when it's convient!
Celebrities say they want privacy but how much do they really want it? It seems like they complain about the paparazzi and the bad media they get when things are going bad but what about when things are going bad. When celebrities have a good, drama free life going they want their privacy but when things are going bad or they feel they have fallen from the public radar they can’t get enough coverage. Some of the same celebs who bash the media in good times want to produce their own show on their road to recovery. They invite the media when they need them, i.e. using the media, so what makes them think the media won’t do the same when they need a good cover story?
Celebrities have been known to have their fair share of legal battles with the media over the appropriateness of some of the photos and videos that are shown to the public. Is it me or is there a double standard? When you are trying to enjoy life on the beach you want the media to stay away but when you are trying to recover from a drug addiction or alcoholism that has taken your career through a downward spiral, then you want the exposure so everyone can see what a triumphant person you are.
Celebrities need to make up their minds. Celebs like Steve-O who now has a show soon to premiere entitled, “Rise and Demise”. He has had a drug addiction and been an alcoholic for years but now wants the media to cover his road to recovery.
I do understand celebs want to do better with their lives but I wish they would make up their minds when it comes to their face being in the media. If you want the coverage when things are bad you shouldn’t mind when they are good.
Celebrities have been known to have their fair share of legal battles with the media over the appropriateness of some of the photos and videos that are shown to the public. Is it me or is there a double standard? When you are trying to enjoy life on the beach you want the media to stay away but when you are trying to recover from a drug addiction or alcoholism that has taken your career through a downward spiral, then you want the exposure so everyone can see what a triumphant person you are.
Celebrities need to make up their minds. Celebs like Steve-O who now has a show soon to premiere entitled, “Rise and Demise”. He has had a drug addiction and been an alcoholic for years but now wants the media to cover his road to recovery.
I do understand celebs want to do better with their lives but I wish they would make up their minds when it comes to their face being in the media. If you want the coverage when things are bad you shouldn’t mind when they are good.
"What"ter?!
Twitter. What does that word even mean? I don’t know. Personally, I don’t care. But the site seems to be all the rage today, often used in conjunction with my personal addiction Facebook.
I am not on twitter, have never been on the site, and do not plan on getting on it. Why? Because I see no point at all for it. At all. From what I understand about the site, in a nutshell, people get on to set a status about what they think or what they are doing in their lives at the moment. You also have ability to subscribe to others people’s feeds. (did I mention I find it pointless)
In order for this thing to work, I would have to find some way to access the Internet all day to tell random people my life’s events. Let’s see: “Went to class” – 9 am, “Ate. It was good” – 11 am, “Bored in class” – 2 pm… The only good I see in this is for the person that may decide it’s a fine time to stalk me now.
And what was the deal with the whole Ashton Kutcher and CNN following. A waste of life to me. Okay, so you have all these followers. Now what? Must have been the highlight of their year.
Needless to say, this is one person who won’t be joining the ranks of twitter… Can someone please tell me what that means!?
I am not on twitter, have never been on the site, and do not plan on getting on it. Why? Because I see no point at all for it. At all. From what I understand about the site, in a nutshell, people get on to set a status about what they think or what they are doing in their lives at the moment. You also have ability to subscribe to others people’s feeds. (did I mention I find it pointless)
In order for this thing to work, I would have to find some way to access the Internet all day to tell random people my life’s events. Let’s see: “Went to class” – 9 am, “Ate. It was good” – 11 am, “Bored in class” – 2 pm… The only good I see in this is for the person that may decide it’s a fine time to stalk me now.
And what was the deal with the whole Ashton Kutcher and CNN following. A waste of life to me. Okay, so you have all these followers. Now what? Must have been the highlight of their year.
Needless to say, this is one person who won’t be joining the ranks of twitter… Can someone please tell me what that means!?
Real Love or Real Fake?
“For the Love of Ray J?” “Flavor of Love?” “Flavor of Love 2?” “Flavor of Love 3?” “I Love New York?” “I Love New York 2?” Wow. I don’t know where to start. In the past years, reality TV shows have taken on the task of being a matchmaker. Every show seems to be “The Bachelor” on steroids. Bringing complete strangers together under one roof and having them compete for the love of a below b-list celebrity (I use the word celebrity oh-so-loosely). At the end of about a month, two people are supposed to be in love and live happily ever after. Complete crap. (I am STILL disgusted that anyone would even think to touch any body part of the above man known as Flava Flav!)
Who finds love in a month?! Each of these shows start off with about thirty or so contestants and they are expected to find true love in thirty days or less. Some people cannot find true love in thirty years. Complete bullshit. They completely go against the idea of “finding true love”. The shows are very similar. There is always one crazy male or female on the show that keep you watching from week to week. And of course they don’t win the lover at the end, but they (usually) do win their very own show and a free ride to “celebrity” status (again, I use the word loosely). Many of the love scenes in the shows are really soft core porn scenes. The idea of love is a mockery.
Most of the characters on the shows are looking for exposure and trying to launch their own acting careers. In “Flavor of Love”, one of the contestants eventually got her own show and was seen in a movie confirming that she was clearly looking to start a career in acting. Love – merely a sidebar. There are right ways and wrong ways to find love and show like these are definitely the wrong way.
Some people look at these shows, see the behavior, and think it is appropriate, especially the younger generation. If they base love off of reality shows, all they need to find is a couple of drunken whores willing to screw them on regular intervals. Now that’s a whole lot of love!
Now, do I watch these shows? YES, I do. There is something about the mindless entertainment that pulls me in weekly. Note the phrase mindless entertainment” though. I can decipher reality from “reality”. As long as I can do that, I will continue to watch. Hey, I need a good laugh every once in a while.
Who finds love in a month?! Each of these shows start off with about thirty or so contestants and they are expected to find true love in thirty days or less. Some people cannot find true love in thirty years. Complete bullshit. They completely go against the idea of “finding true love”. The shows are very similar. There is always one crazy male or female on the show that keep you watching from week to week. And of course they don’t win the lover at the end, but they (usually) do win their very own show and a free ride to “celebrity” status (again, I use the word loosely). Many of the love scenes in the shows are really soft core porn scenes. The idea of love is a mockery.
Most of the characters on the shows are looking for exposure and trying to launch their own acting careers. In “Flavor of Love”, one of the contestants eventually got her own show and was seen in a movie confirming that she was clearly looking to start a career in acting. Love – merely a sidebar. There are right ways and wrong ways to find love and show like these are definitely the wrong way.
Some people look at these shows, see the behavior, and think it is appropriate, especially the younger generation. If they base love off of reality shows, all they need to find is a couple of drunken whores willing to screw them on regular intervals. Now that’s a whole lot of love!
Now, do I watch these shows? YES, I do. There is something about the mindless entertainment that pulls me in weekly. Note the phrase mindless entertainment” though. I can decipher reality from “reality”. As long as I can do that, I will continue to watch. Hey, I need a good laugh every once in a while.
Redemption or Reaction to Getting Caught?
Clifford Harris Jr. a.k.a. “T.I.” has been in and out of the spotlight for almost a decade. He performed numerous concerts and has recorded six albums on his path to worldwide fame. Most believed he had overcome his hard past to become a true Hip Hop icon.
However, his former life eventually caught up with him. In recent years he has been in and out of the courtroom battling for his freedom and recently he was convicted on weapons charges that landed him in more trouble than he could have ever imagined. This violation of his probation has assured him one thing - he will be going to jail. The question is, for how long.
Knowing he will be facing jail time, Harris suddenly decided to change the lives of young men and women who were headed down the same path he was, the wrong path. Through MTV, he named and created a show, “Road to Redemption”. In this show, Harris visits with young people to show them the consequences of staying in the streets and leading a life of crime. He was determined to change these young men’s lives before he was sentenced. Or that’s what he wants the public to believe.
The idea of this show came under the terms of Harris’s sentence. He was ordered to perform community service in order to pay his debt to society. In return, he would receive some leniency from the judge. Hmmmm…. One has to wonder (and I do) if he was doing this just to be on TV or if he was genuinely trying to change others lives or if all he was worried about was a lesser sentence. And who is to say that the lives of the young people are actually being changed? It takes more than a day or two to change a LIFESTYLE. If the cameras were in front of me, and T.I. was at my side, I would pretend to be changed too. Is this show indeed a “show”?
Personally, I believe Harris is somewhat genuine in his attempt to change lives. For some, it takes the threat of having something precious (such as freedom) stripped away before they see the wrong they have been doing. Some may see this show and think the artist is putting on this act because he was caught. I think he recognizes that he broke the law and must be punished for his actions but only to an extent. I still question whether he is a changed man. Needless to say, I am looking forward to seeing what his life will be like after he is released.
However, his former life eventually caught up with him. In recent years he has been in and out of the courtroom battling for his freedom and recently he was convicted on weapons charges that landed him in more trouble than he could have ever imagined. This violation of his probation has assured him one thing - he will be going to jail. The question is, for how long.
Knowing he will be facing jail time, Harris suddenly decided to change the lives of young men and women who were headed down the same path he was, the wrong path. Through MTV, he named and created a show, “Road to Redemption”. In this show, Harris visits with young people to show them the consequences of staying in the streets and leading a life of crime. He was determined to change these young men’s lives before he was sentenced. Or that’s what he wants the public to believe.
The idea of this show came under the terms of Harris’s sentence. He was ordered to perform community service in order to pay his debt to society. In return, he would receive some leniency from the judge. Hmmmm…. One has to wonder (and I do) if he was doing this just to be on TV or if he was genuinely trying to change others lives or if all he was worried about was a lesser sentence. And who is to say that the lives of the young people are actually being changed? It takes more than a day or two to change a LIFESTYLE. If the cameras were in front of me, and T.I. was at my side, I would pretend to be changed too. Is this show indeed a “show”?
Personally, I believe Harris is somewhat genuine in his attempt to change lives. For some, it takes the threat of having something precious (such as freedom) stripped away before they see the wrong they have been doing. Some may see this show and think the artist is putting on this act because he was caught. I think he recognizes that he broke the law and must be punished for his actions but only to an extent. I still question whether he is a changed man. Needless to say, I am looking forward to seeing what his life will be like after he is released.
From Meal Plans to Millions
For a few lucky college players, the professional draft for their respective sports is a life changing experience. Going from a college dorm to a million dollar condo is every players dream. But are they ready for the responsibility of being a professional ballplayer AND a celebrity? Do they really comprehend what the new lifestyle brings? Being a professional adds millions of dollars to your bank account but it also adds you to the spotlight. Being in the spotlight is the equivalent of having ZERO privacy. You are almost required to have a “perfect” life. The smallest mistake can turn into the biggest story of the year.
Often, we have seen celebrities get bad press for incidents you and I see occurring daily, especially on a college campus. Simple traffic violations for a celeb can be seen on TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, and any other network that will air the story. What these professional have to remember is that their lives are not considered normal. In college, administration and coaches can have bad grades and DUIs swept under the rug. Life after college is totally different. The players are expected to enjoy life but enjoy it under a high-powered microscope.
While celebs have more responsibility than the average Joe, I do believe they should be free to live their own lives without fear of having their picture being taken during one of life’s awkward moments. Athletes, I also charge you with upholding the standards that those who idolize you believe you posses. Remember the days when you were young, watching your favorite player, hoping, dreaming, wishing that were you in ten years. Don’t take that dream away.
Time to Equal The "Punishing" Field
Recently celebrity Chris Brown was arrested for physically assaulting R&B singer Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty. The two were known to have been in a relationship for a while before the incident occurred. There were rumors that Brown and Fenty had an argument that got heated and turned into a physical altercation between the two. Brown turned himself in and was charged with felony battery charges. Almost immediately, the press turned the story into a media circus.
Both performers immediately pulled out of their appearances at the Grammy’s. For Brown, the bad times had just begun. He was scheduled to make an appearance on the upcoming Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards. Once the charges had surfaced, people started to show concern and asked that Brown either be pulled from the show or remove himself. Brown voluntarily pulled out of the show and lost even more fans. The media coverage continued and Brown’s name continued to be dragged through the dirt. He also had a Wrigley’s chewing gum commercial in rotation on several networks that was very popular. The commercial was pulled almost immediately after the story broke.
There are hundreds of cases of assault on women reported each year. The men that are guilty in these cases are almost never reported and if they are reported they are not given as bad a rap as Chris Brown received. No, I’m not saying that assault is okay for celebrities to get away with. However, I feel like the only reason Brown got the coverage he got is because he is a celebrity. Scratch that, I KNOW the only reason is because he is a celebrity. Anyone else would have been given a pass or at least been out of jail within a days time, free to resume their normal functioning lives.
Whether it is a celebrity or a regular citizen, assault is assault. Whether it is a female or a male, abuse should not be overlooked for a regular citizen yet sensationalized for a celebrity. While I am not giving Brown a pass for what he did, I do feel like he is being ostracized for the wrong reasons. Yes he did cross the line when he physically harmed a female but he should be treated just like any other woman beater rather than crucify him because he is a celebrity. Or perhaps we can use his case to set a stricter standard for regular citizens. I urge police, lawmakers, politicians… anyone with a voice to demand harsher laws for ANYONE who has the audacity to put their hands on someone else. In this case, for once, let’s put everyone on an equal playing field.
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