by Patrick Boniface

Created on: October 01, 2008   Last Updated: January 10, 2010

Celebrities should come with a public health warning. Being 'famous' and in the public eye will make you go bonkers at the very least, crazy if you're lucky and quite likely it could even kill you judging by some of the most celebrated celebrity meltdown's, turn arounds and 'incidents' of late.

George Michael picked up inside another public convenience in London with, it is alleged, a supply of drugs after a similar incident in Los Angeles. Britney Spears shaving her hair off in desperation and David Hasselhoff alledgely finding a quantum of solace at the bottom of a bottle. These are just a few of the incidents that have hit the headlines in recent months and years, can they be staged? You bet they can, but would a beautiful young woman like Britney Spears, whose hair is one of her best features believe her publicist when he or she says 'Hey Britney, I have a great idea to get you more column inches in National Enquirer. Shave your hair go bold and pretend to be absolutely nuts!".

No, celebrities are liable, in fact, more likely than us mere mortals to have breakdowns and career making or breaking incidents. Tom Cruise bouncing around like a schoolboy high on a sugar rush telling Ophra of his love for Katie Holmes. Well that probably was staged actually, unless he did suck on one too many candies before going into the television studio. But will we know for sure ever, probably not Tom Cruise is unlikely to say. One thing is for sure he's been very quiet since that 'incident', dilligently working at making another hit movie and going back to Top Gun to recreate the magic that launched his career into the stratosphere.

Bizarre behaviour is nothing new, it's not a 21st century fad or creation. The 20th century was the start of the cult of celebrity and everyone brushed with its madness could be expected to make a few bad choices. But what constitutes a bad choice and at what point does it cross over into eccentric or bizarre behaviour? Taste and decency is the dividing line, cross it and you become an outcast, but do you in the crazy world of celebrity? Not always but sometimes you do. It depends on who you are and where you are on the celebrity list. A local TV talk show host does something wrong - he could lose his job, lose his wife, his house and his liberty. An A lister meanwhile could get away with a polite caution from those very polite and neatly turned out cops in Los Angeles. One rule for the lesser men and women and another for the top dogs. Aint that the way it's always been.

Even celebrities have to live within societies conventions well most of the time; Pee Wee Herman anyone?

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