Psyc 13 - Lecture notes 13 PDF

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When I was little, I definitely wanted to be famous, I distinctly remember I wanted to be a singer. Like most people, I don't think fame appeals to me as much as it did when I was little. However, when I was in high school I won an award from an organization, and as a result, I had articles written about me in a paper, I spoke at multiple events to tell my story and fundraise, and I was even on the front page of a magazine. Don't get me wrong, I am by no means famous but that year I definitely felt some of the aspects of fame. I was scared of doing anything or posting anything because I didn't want something to come off as being inappropriate or for me to come off as being a bad role model. I felt this constant pressure to be perfect because people "were looking up to me" I even had someone tell me to stop posting my feelings on a private page only close friends could see because it wasn't good for the image I had to have. However, I also felt more appreciated by others that year than I had ever had before. It felt great to know people understood what I had gone through and made me feel like I was doing well. After having this experience and having so many different emotions through the year, it made me realize that being really famous is not something I want because the toll it takes on you does not outweigh the benefits. I would still like to be somewhat well known and appreciated but full-out fame seems too much for me. If you asked me this question when I was 10, I would have said yes in a heartbeat. It all just seemed so exciting at the time, and I wanted to know what it felt like to be known for something that other people liked, looked up to, or were grateful for. But as I grew up and saw so many celebrities hated on for the smallest mistakes and false rumors, I realized that to reach such a high level of fame, it takes a great deal of mental strength, which is difficult for people who are more emotional like myself. Privacy is very important to me as well, and I can't imagine being watched 24/7 and having your simplest actions misinterpreted as something with bad intent. So now, I definitely don't think I could handle all the negatives that come with fame. I used to have this same aspiration! When I was little I would die to be on Disney Channel. As I have grown and heard/ witnessed the feedback that many celebrities get for the littlest things my perspective has changed. Of course everyone wants to make money and be the one to get all the attention. This also has its downsides to it as well. I personally do not believe that I could be famous because I believe I am a blunt person and stand on everything I say. Because of this I do believe that some things would upset the general public or specific people and I would be held accountable to apologize to them and I would not but it would affect my career. I believe that being famous would also be hard because I would not necessarily love random people completely invested in my personal business and given their unwanted opinions. When I was little, my biggest dream was to become a famous singer. I was obsessed with Hannah Montana and wanted to be just like her. I think a lot of kids think like this because the idea of being famous seems really fun, but as kids we don't understand what being famous fully means. I never realized

how much famous people's privacy is invaded and how much the public knows about their lives. When you're little you're more oblivious to things like this and being famous just seems like something cool. I don't know if I would still want to be famous now because of how much pressure comes with it. Celebrities are expected to be perfect role models and get a lot of backlash, sometimes even over the simplest things. If I were to be famous, I would try to stay out of the public eye as much as possible. A lot of celebrities are able to achieve this by not being constantly active on social media. Even though this limits some of their freedom, I think it is important to balance publicity and privacy. I honestly don't know if I would be able to handle being famous, but I would probably prefer not to be. I have always sort of wanted to be famous, though the older I get, the more I realize that my reasoning for wanting to be famous stems from insecurity and a longing for aspects of life that I no longer want. The more I see snapchat articles that put famous people down for just living their lives the more I know I would not be able to handle it. I was always the type of person that needed to be loved by everyone (a driving force behind my want for fame), but realistically the hatred would stand out more to me than the love and I can't even handle hatred from one person let alone hundreds.

There is certainly an appeal that fame holds and I do want to be known for something and to change people's lives, but I worry that the risk of fame would not be worth the it to me. I went to a small private school where there was no such thing as privacy, and now that I go to a state school where I can choose who to share things with, I really value my privacy. I wouldn't be able to survive with people following my every move and waiting for me to mess up. This may be an unorthodox answer to the question, but I believe that in today's society, all of us are famous and none of us can handle the amount of attention it beings us unless you have a personality that thrives under a lot of attention. As a symptom of social media, all of us are engaged in an interconnected environment in which we present ourselves and our beliefs to an audience exponential in scale and scope. This is new to human history. Historical figures who became famous were often closed-minded and ambitious individuals who were radically skilled at one thing, and would only amount to a notorious elevation by others after they had passed. Alexander the Great and Leonardo Da Vinci come to mind. Famous by today's standards, but reclusive, intensely focused, and open-minded like Leonardo Da Vinci, an intellectual and scientific wizard in the history of the world. He could handle the pressure of criticism and notoriety because he barrelled ahead in his individual studies ferociously without rest. Heavy criticism could not penetrate the iron will and determination of this famous man. So too by Alexander the Great. He was too busy executing military tactics so dominant

he was a monstrous force to be reckoned with. Impenetrable of the views of other people. We aren't equipped for the attention and criticism brought with the everpresent eye of the public like these famous heroes. The majority of us are soft, short-sighted, and care too much about what others think of us to bear the iron grip of fame. There are exceptions, but they rock, and are by definition, exceptional, and therefore not worth generalized discussion....