Celebrity=superstar=icon=idol...What establishes one as a celebrity. It is for the most part someone who is in the movies, on television (which means in your living room), and in the print media on a regular basis, to the point that almost everyone feels like he/she owns a piece of that person. It is not confined to the acting profession but can be news personalities (I believe they call them commentators), politicians, sports personalities, and even preachers such as Joel Osteen.
I do not particularly care for blanket descriptions because certainly some of the above mentioned celebrity types do have positive influence, but since we are looking at the topic as an overall perspective, the effect is negative, thanks in most part to their lifestyles.
Even celebrities who for a long time appear to be ideal in their comportment, have something that eventually rises to the surface to break those feet of clay. Some shining examples of this are Kobe Bryant, Charlie Sheen, and the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, just to name a few.
The fact is celebrities are human and as fallable as any of the rest of us. The problem on the other hand, is that they do not see themselves that way and there is always someone out there to give them a platform. Any time I have put anyone on a pedestal, other than Jesus Christ, he/she has disappointed me. Celebrities seem to have opinions on any and every topic - case in point, Sharon Stone and her comments about the reason for the earthquake in China. Tom Crews and his espousal of Scientology has caused him to feel that he has a right to speak to issues that he really knows little about.
There was a time when celebrities kept their private lives private. Nowadays, there are countless people out there who want to earn a buck by exposing some horrendous details about a celebrity that they have somehow come in contact with. Do these athletes think these girls who meet them in there hotel rooms for a romp really like them for themselves. Usually they are hero worshippers (or groupies) but are also looking down the line at the potential for a lawsuit, blackmail or media interview.
Technology has made it easy for people to very publicly vent on any subject whether they know anything about it or not. By the same token, technology has made it possible for celebrities to be recorded and videotaped or photographed without his/her knowledge and used at a later date to their detrement. Often interviewers try to trap celebrities into saying something outrageous, and they usually oblige.
Celebrity divorces get uglier with each one. The child custody situation with Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger was disgusting. Greed and one-upmanship seem to obliterate any effect the publicity may have on their children or those who look up to them. It's no wonder we have a generation (or two) that have little regard for the sanctity of marriage or privacy. Everything is spilled out there for the world to see and hear, no matter how sordid, and no matter how much influence these people seem to have over our youth.
It has not always been this way. I remember watching Clark Gable, Betty Grable, and other movie stars on the newsreels at the movies. They were promoting war bonds, entertaining the troops with Bob Hope or at area USO Clubs. Many of them left their careers behind temporarily to serve in the war effort. Walter Kronkite and his ilk were men of integrity and we could believe them for the most part. Ronald Reagan was a celebrity star, but was also a man of integrity. Until Rock Hudson became ill with HIV I had no idea about his sexual preference. It did not have anything to do with his acting ability and was better left unsaid. Just because they have attained celebrity for a particular ability, they don't necessarily know what is good for our country; they don't necessarily understand the science of the "greenhouse effect"; and they don't necessarily know what is best for people spiritually. Why do we listen?
The real truth is that we should care about them for their talent and their ability to entertain us rather thn their desire to "enlighten" us, and it is really none of our business how their marriages are going or who they're sleeping with, but society seems to have an insatiable appetite for that kind of information, regardless of how negative it is. Many of them have limited education, and most of them are talkers, not listeners.
I have always tried to alert young people upon whom I may have some influence, whether mine or someone else's, that it pays to understand and research a topic before you speak out on it or it may come back to bite you. It also pays to be sure that you use sources that are reliable for your research - not celebrities. The depressing life of Brittany Spears is one that I often use as an example. Too much money and celebrity too fast made her think she could do and say whatever she wanted, regardless of the fact that many young girls and boys looked up to her. She fell off of her pedestal hard, but I fear she may have taken others with her.
The advice that I give the kids should really apply to us all. We should all make sure our sources of information are reliable and factually knowledgable. The best source for how to live one's life is the Bible. Jesus is the one celebrity I know of who could really turn water into wine and heal the blind, really understood the politics and religious doctrines of his time, and backed up everything He ever said.