Celebrities – or, rather, their followers.

Something I have never been able to understand is mankind’s fascination with other people and what they are doing. We are all supposed to be individuals, so surely “doing your own thing” is good, right?

But we slavishly follow others, particular those who get tagged with “celebrity” status, though whether people who appear on reality shows like “Big Brother” and “The only way is Essex” are “celebrities” is, in my mind extremely debatable. I hasten to add here that I do not watch any reality shows, though I will admit that I followed the early series of BB when it was a novelty, but you cannot avoid seeing what is going on through the media coverage. As for “Britain’s Got Talent” and other “talent” shows, to me it just shows how talent-less people are, and how inflated their own opinions of themselves are. I think Simon has it right – he is brutally honest, but at least he is honest. Why tell people how good they are, when they patently aren’t, just so as not to hurt their feelings? But what is most incredible is that these people who are rejected have the nerve then to turn round, and claim that they are actually so talented that the panel have no idea what they are talking about! It is bad enough to publicly humiliate yourself by trying to sing/dance/perform in public, or in front of the panel, when you are obviously rubbish, without then compounding the error by arguing with the panel, or going on to talk about it to the presenters and claiming you are really “the next big thing”!

OK, I guess with reality shows (non-celebrity ones like BB) and talent shows some lucky individuals do manage to break out of their humdrum existences and make “something” of themselves, but if you are that desperate to advance yourself as to appear in these shows, and humiliate yourself publicly just to get your fifteen minutes of fame, or end up being known as “that person off BB”, because you cannot really do anything, then that is incredibly sad.

Real celebrities do exist, don’t get me wrong, and I have nothing against them, but I have no interest in knowing what they are doing, who they are doing, how they are doing it, what car they drive, where they live, where they go on holiday, what their inside leg measurement is, whether they have been caught breaking the law, how many partners they have had, and so on ad nauseam. They are people, not gods, and while we should respect them (and their right to some privacy!) for their achievements, in whatever field that might be, following their every move, trying to ”friend” them on Facebook or Twitter (what is the point of Twitter?), copying what they wear or what they eat, is kind of lame on my books. Maybe it is good to aspire to such greatness ourselves, we need our dreams and ambitions, but when I see crowds of people following them everywhere, and screaming crazily at them I start wondering at the mental state of the followers. Are they all there? Is their life so sad that they have to live their lives through their hero, or heroine? I have better things to do other than queue outside a movie theatre at a première, just on the off-chance of getting a glimpse of a film star, or wait at an airport where I know a celebrity is arriving, just to see them at a distance. It is as though merely being within a 20 mile radius of them will endow you with some magical powers. But seriously …GET A LIFE OF YOUR OWN!