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An obsession with celebrity sightings has taken over the lives of millions of Westerners. Entertainment Tonight, Extra, The National Enquirer, TMZ, Perez Hilton, Popsugar, and countless other celebrity television shows, tabloids and weblogs prove that, in this day and age, what we think and talk about with our friends and family greatly revolves around the glamorous, and usually scandalous, lives of the rich and famous.

The need for a daily dose of celebrity gossip is a relatively new phenomenon. The development of the camera and other technologies have dramatically escalated this strange "celebrity industry", but this fixation likely has more to do with what we think of ourselves than just being interested in the goings on in celebrity lifestyles.

Many things account for why we are fascinated by celebrities. One reason may be that we tune in to convince ourselves that even though these superstars may have enough money to last lifetimes, even money can't buy happiness. We compare ourselves to celebrities and conclude that we have more wholesome lives, living as the average man and woman, in order to deal with our existence, stuck in the middle class. Another reason is the opposite to the one given prior: that of admiration. We look up to these stars and paste our notion of our ideal self upon them. We wonder why we can't look or be like him or her, and make tremendous efforts to become more like them. The invasive pictures, videos and headlining stories which surround the modern celebrities life provides us with ways of how to deal with our own life experiences.

Celebrities willingly put themselves in a situation where they are followed around relentlessly by the paparazzi, and used for product endorsements and advertising schemes. They have the choice of entering into this lifestyle. However, it is not simply a clear cut issue. If one is talented at singing, acting, modeling and so on, then the natural step is to move on to where one can profit from his or her talent, and where his or her talent can be recognized, rewarded and shared with others on a larger scale. No rational person would give up such an opportunity. Just because celebrities choose a career that gets a great deal of attention in itself, doesn't mean that they should be susceptible to truly invasive behaviour, exposing their personal lives to millions of people, which, in turn, affects their work relations, family life, friendships, and emotional stability.

The pressure stars are under is probably enormous. Everyone expects the best and the worst from them. People like you and I watch on either cheering them on wholeheartedly, projecting our hopes and dreams on them, others focus intently on them waiting for them to fall, and fall hard. How do they deal with millions, even billions of these expectations? Who would blame Britney for losing control, or Lindsay for feeling she can't trust anyone. Being in the public eye is part of their job, but there is a certain kind of respect missing in our relationship with celebrities.

Everyone goes to work in the morning with the expectation of leaving it at some point of the evening and going home for some down-time. This isn't the case with celebrities. They are followed, or rather, stalked by photographers, waiting for them to make a mistake so they can sell the proof and broadcast it to the whole of society. Sure, there are some people who relish in all the attention, and welcome it with open arms, and thats their prerogative. However, those celebrities who express their need to keep some part of their lives private should be respected, as they are, after all people like you and me, and not the superheroes we make them out to be.

Learn more about this author, Arianne Tong.
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