Celebrity vs Hero

I dislike to be found old-fashioned, but I have to tell you that I simply don’t get this mass-media celebrity stuff. I'm not talking about the recognition of people who have heroic qualities, who are 'save the day' kinds of people who have achieved something of note to gain public attention (perhaps as simple as something written, something sculptured, something fought for). I'm talking about the over-the-top media worship of people who are widely-recognised & famous who command a high degree of public and media attention but who don't seem to have done anything but be in the right place at the right time.

So what brought on this blog entry? Not so long ago we had the Paris Hilton fiasco. Should she go to jail, or not? That was unavoidable mind-numbing drivel. Then, we had the Britney Spears tragedy - for goodness sake, she's aged barely more than a kid herself & trying to cope with somewhere near 6 billion people watching (& supposedly having an opinion about) her every move! I thought having my mother watching my efforts of growing up & at raising children was a hard enough gig. If I was Britney, I too would be fluffing around somewhat & wishing that I could do it in private.

Today's headlines on MSN news (& it's the fact that this is considered headline news) highlight the Spice Girls' latest supposed rows & the fact that Sharon Osbourne envies Danni Minogue.

Those of you who know me well, know that I much prefer to read 'how to' articles than about someone else's opinion of a person. I don't closely read gossip magazines nor biography genre books. I don't watch soaps or 'real life' television. It doesn't mean that I live in a vacuum, either. There are some things you can't miss, a bit like the odour of garlic that permeates it's location. I don't think that there is such thing as a 'perfect life'. In my opinion, everyone on the planet breathes in and out for themselves according to circumstance, so what life choices people make are private & personal & not our business or open for comment. Hence to the headlines mentioned above, my response is: Who cares? Let these people's disagreements & envies remain private so that those envolved can gently sort them out.

I once complained to a women's magazine editor that I thought some of the coverage of people's lives was intrusive & best left alone. Her response was that it sells magazines, so obviously everyone wants to know, & therefore it's in public interest to print every scandalous innuendo that came across her desk (Yeah right! Getting photos to go with Diana's private life got her killed. How intrusive was that?)

In an abstract early morning way, I then thought some more about life (I hate this over-analysation gene! I'm sure Niew Idea & Woman's Day publishers - neither of which I read since the response to my complaint - love readers like me). Forget the supposed envy of Sharon; why would I want to be Danni Minogue or any of the Spice Girls for that matter? I like my own life & circumstances a whole lot better.

I know that there are flaws in the following argument but let's face it, in the most superficial way imaginable, I'd not like to be Posh simply because she looks (soooo hungry &) so miserable! I've rarely, if ever, seen a pic of Posh smiling, which is a pity, because while she is, in my opinion, far too thin to be beautiful she has some lovely facial attributes. It's those damned cameras intruding on her life, no doubt! The reality is that the Spice Girls probably get along fairly well & are not on the verge of a fight all the time. With a camera shoved in my face so often by people I don't know who are asking intrusive questions I would not ask of my best friends, I'd probably be construed as bad tempered too (hell, I get considered bad tempered if I squint without my glasses). For poor old Posh, it'd be like having a bus baring down upon her on the footpath every time she walked out the door - hard work & very intrusive. Give the girls a fair go, I say!

Danni has her own set of unenvieable circumstances. Yes, she is gorgeous, & she has a successful TV & singing career, a fabulous wardrobe of clothes & probably more money than my neighbourhood will earn in a life-time, but on a personal level, she's seemingly unlucky in love, mostly noted for the the size of her thighs & the changing shape of her nose (I thought she was most beautiful before all the reported surgery) and that she is the sister of the just-as-unlucky Kylie. Sadly, who takes any note of her supposed work with AIDS sufferers & promotion of gay society except, of course, those who directly benefit? Shamefully, mass-media hysteria wouldn't make her a celebrity if that's all she did.

All that hype aside, do you know why I'd hate to be (& therefore do not envy) Danni Minogue? I'd hate to be Danni simply because she's childless. For me, I wouldn't want to contemplate a life without my husband or children & all the wonderful years of chaos & music that went with them.

It's a simple matter of opinion, I know. Why Danni doesn't have kids is her business, not yours, nor mine. I wouldn't dare express any opinion, if I had one. I simply wouldn't want to be her because she doesn't. Everything else she has would not make up for that lack, for me.

I don't know anything much about Sharon Osbourne except that she reportedly has a family comprising of three biological off-spring & an adopted child from a deceased family friend (I've heard her name but then I googled her to find out who she was). I read that it's a supposedly wacky family but am sure that the fame game probably makes it seem wackier than it would be if it was Joe Blog's family down the street. It's all an author's opinion & heresay. Anyway, the point is that if I was childless, I'd be wanting to do whatever & pay any price it takes to have three kiddies of my own. Lucky Sharon. Lucky Posh.

In my humble opinion, no gig in life beats being a parent & all it entails. Being a celebrity (famous for being famous) is a dead end game. Being a parent is to be rich, heroic & immortal. I have the finest furnishings: kids.