by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: December 31, 2009

It is difficult to define anyone as a celebrity when they would deliberately engage in bizarre behavior that costs them audience, contracts, and career. That is the consequence of bizarre behavior by celebrities who are very, very expensive investments for producers and everyone else who is involved with a film, musical production, album, or touring show.

In the military, officers are traditionally taught to look for "bizarre behavior" in their subordinates and peers as possible indicators of mental instability, drug and alcohol abuse, or personal problems that might jeopardize the person's ability to do their job. Bizarre behavior in that sense included financial problems, unexplained absences, changes in mood or behavior that were uncharacteristic, and other indicators that something is not quite right with the individual.

A true celebrity is celebrated for their accomplishments in the arts, sciences, politics, education, acts of heroism, politics, the law, or any endeavor that involves excellence in a positive endeavor. A true entertainment celebrity is celebrated for their charismatic abilities to capture the hearts and minds of the masses, resulting in mass interest in all aspects of their personal as well as professional lives.

But today, the historical truth about substance abuse, psychological disorders, and other indicators is that true celebrities, as well as the lesser backup personnel who support them, live lives that are chaotic, unsettled, vulnerable to addictions, and stressful beyond belief. From the well known influences of bootleg alcohol, opium, heroin, marijuana in the prohibition era, where entertainment boomed as an industry, to the 1940s, when prescription drugs and cocaine made their major debut, to the 1950s, when an even wider array of recreational drugs became available, it is hands down, the mood altering and/or addictive substance that is the driving force in bizarre behavior in true celebrities who live nothing like normal lives.

The confusion lies in the public lack of understanding about the difference between notoriety and celebrity. The media is now driven by motivations to expose the lives and dysfunctions of people who are neither accomplished, charismatic nor worthy of celebration. These people draw attention because of the train wrecks that their lives had become long before they were widely exposed to the public. In these cases, the bizarre behavior from maladaptive personalities, personality and social disorders, and abuse of mood altering substances IS the cause of their celebrity, and that behavior can neither be completely hidden nor consistently faked.

Whether an A, B, C or D list celebrity, the support is overwhelming for any bizarre behavior as evidence of real problems and disorders. While there have been cases of individuals behaving "bizarrely" in order to satirize, gain attention, or to keep their fifteen minutes of fame going, without true accomplishment, charisma, and sustained public affection, they have never succeeded by faking.

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