When we look at
celebrities we sometimes think how lucky they are and may even wish to be in
their place. Their lives and bodies seem flawless. The extravagant lifestyles,
the freebies, the glitter and the glamour all add to the attraction of wishing
to be a celebrity. However, we hardly consider that despite all these seemingly
perfect lives of celebrities, they may be wishing to be like us mere mortals.
Okay maybe not wish to be like us all the time but more often than not. So why
would the celebrities want to be like us ordinary folks? Here are some of the
reasons:
1)
Privacy: How many times have we heard
celebrities talk about wanting their privacy? Lots of times and we will
continue to hear them complain about the loss of privacy for years to come, no
doubt. We often hear celebrities ask for right to privacy just like any
‘regular person’ has. Indeed regular people have this precious thing called
‘privacy’. The freedom to do things especially those that may be embarrassing, privately. You know stuff like going swimming without seeing your backside
magnified on a magazine with red arrows pointing out the cellulite! Regular
folks have this freedom; we can pick our noses, wear mismatched socks and yet
somehow the world goes on. We, regular folks, can keep our private habits to
ourselves but celebrities can’t.
2)
The right to say what we like (within reason of course): We, regular people, have the right to say things pretty much as we
see fit. If we don’t like someone we can tell him/her just how we feel. This
may seem like a trivia thing but alas it is not! The freedom to tell someone to
take a hike should never be underestimated. Ask any celebrity who forgot that
he/she is a ‘celebrity’ and not a ‘regular person’ and tried to exercise this
right and he/she will tell you of the drama that ensued. When celebrities tell
someone to take a hike or words of that effect their words cause uproar. Soon
enough an official apology or statement is issued and/or even a promise to
enter rehab or anger management treatment for said celebrity. Celebrities and
their ‘people’ must be loved and adored by the masses in order to survive;
uproars can end a celebrity’s (and his/her people) careers. Regular people
however don’t have this burden of been all things to all people. So off we go
with our regular jobs, mourning and winging without a care in the world. We
know that no one is interested in remixing our outbursts and putting them on
YouTube (a la Christian Bale)!
3)
Trust: Celebrity lifestyles can make it
difficult for the celebrities to know whom to trust. Usually whenever money is
involved it tends to attract the good but mostly the bad/greedy from all
angles. Too may people surrounding celebrities are there simply to keep their
jobs and it’s perks. Unfortunately this leads to the ‘Yes Men and Women’ i.e.,
the sort of people who would do anything not to annoy the celebrity. The
problem with ‘money’, especially a lot of it, is that everyone wants a part of
it. You don’t have to have even known a celebrity to be able to sell a story
about him/her for a good sum of money these days. Anyone who has even had the
briefest encounter with a celebrity can profit. So for many celebrities the
issue of trust is paramount. How can it not be when even some of their family
members are ready to sell them off to the highest bidder? Fortunately for
regular folks trust isn’t as big any issue as it is for celebrities. We don’t
worry about the waiter who served our table suddenly appearing on a newspaper
with an ‘exclusive’ report about our lives, or our favourite hairdresser
suddenly writing a tell-all book about not just our hair but our love life (and
s/he isn’t even a psychiatrist!) and such. We are not tormented by these
worries especially in today’s media whereby facts are the last thing on most
editors/reporters minds. Moreover in many cases there isn’t even a way of telling who
the informant (liar) is, because all the media has to do is use the magic words
‘allegedly’ and ‘source’ and voila! They can conjure up any bullshit they wish, allegedly. Oh the drama of it all, glad we don’t have to deal
with it.
4)
The right to wear the same outfit over and over again: Regular people can get away with having a favourite outfit. It may
be a little black dress that fits just right or pair of trousers that are just
comfortable or any other outfit that we happen to love. We can wear it to
various places as many times as we like and we get away with it. Celebrities
however, must not be seen with the same outfit more than once. Apparently it’s a
crime against fashion or an indication of the celeb’s stinginess. No wonder
they have to find as many places to go to as possible to get the freebies. The
same goes for accessories, we may not be able to borrow diamond earrings worth
millions of pounds but seriously who wants a couple of big men in suits
following you around on a night out? Keep the earrings I say.
5)
A right to screw up: When you are a
celebrity, you loose the right to screw up. Basically whatever ‘oops’ moments
you will have as a celebrities or those you had prior to becoming one, will
haunt you for the rest of your life and possibly your children and their
children. We can fall out of clubs/bars; we can wear skimpy things and even
have an odd boob-pop-out moment and get away with it. We have the right to
learn from our ‘oops’ when/if we choose, whenever we want. If you got really
drunk at the office party and snogged your boss or did something stupid, worse
case scenario you could move to another job or town and start again. We have
the advantage of ‘starting again’ after our ‘oops’ moments and also we can
protect some of our love ones from our ‘oops’. If you fell over at the office
party or club and showed your ‘private bits’, your grandmother doesn’t have to
know about it. However for celebs, in most cases, their ‘oops’ are what makes
the headline; it’s what their grandmothers wake up to! Britney Spears and
Madonna can never erase the ‘oops’ moments even if they won Nobel Prizes for
discovering a cure for cancer (which is unlikely but still). The celebrities
‘oops’ moments will always follow them wherever they go and there is nothing
they can do about it.
6)
The right to look a mess: Regular folks have
the right to go to out of the house looking a mess. We can pop out for a pint
of milk without makeup and in our comfy, loose clothes (pyjamas) if we want to.
Celebrities can’t for the fear of some paparazzi snapping them in such a state.
Imagine having to dress up all the time, even when you just need to pop out for
a few minutes.
All in all its not that bad been a regular
folk. Of course we can only enjoy these benefits for as long as we do not
become celebrities. Remember once you are a celebrities you start to lose out
on some of these advantages.
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