Fame from infamy
By Kaelin Dodge
Had you asked me when I was younger how I would want to get famous, I would have probably answered along the lines of, “I’ll star in a Disney movie that teaches good morals, family, and friendship,” but now I would answer along the lines of “reality TV show.”
In this day and age anyone can be famous, you don’t really need talent, just a good story.
Take a look at the cover of magazines as your checking out at the groceries, the people you see, are they charitable or they have a talent their known for? The answer is, probably not. As a society, we attribute fame to those who should really just be infamous.
Not to bash the Kardashians, because I totally marathon their show every weekend, but do they really deserve the fame that we’ve given them? Sure, their show is entertaining, and their nutty family makes us feel better about our own, but other than that, do they have a talent? They can’t act, sing, dance; they just argue and eat salad in exotic places. Despite their lack of talent and charity, they still grace the cover of our magazines every time they gain five pounds.
Justin Bieber, who made his claim to fame with swoopy hair and singing, recently ditched the talent part of fame and went for scandal. He is a great example of a celebrity who deserved the recognition at first, but who we need to stop giving it to. He’s like a Gremlin where when you feed into what he wants the situation only gets worse. Now we put Bieber in the spotlight for drinking and driving, and being a punk instead of those who are doing something with their talent or giving back to others.
When looking at magazines or watching E! News (we all do at some point), how often is it that they mention an actress like Lupita Nyong’o, who acts in movies that have a message and who is a role model for young girls everywhere? Olivia Wilde was named one of the most charitable celebrities this year, but instead of covering that, People covers Kim Kardashian’s dress that made her “look like a whale”.
As a society, we need to give recognition to those who deserve it (because of talent or charity) instead of making infamous people famous.