By Klaus Rohrich
Friday, August 10, 2007
Lindsay Lohan. Britney Spears. Brangelina. Reality television. Canamerican Idol. Our culture's preoccupation with other people's lives betrays a poverty that most of us don't consciously realize afflicts us. Yet it is as devastating to our society as armed attacks might be in that this affliction keeps us from reaching our full emotional and intellectual potential.
The number of magazines and television programs that gleefully recount our celebrities' missteps are a good indication of where our cultural interests lie. Yes, we are interested in the lives of the rich and famous. Problem is that those lives are as sordid and squalid as any we may find on the wrong side of the tracks. Instead of reading biographies about the great achievers, individuals like Winston Churchill, Marie Curie or Albert Einstein, we can't seem to get enough information about the travails of current celebrities.
So what makes us so enamored of those whose existence is as hollow as the meanest among us? It has to be a loss of direction, an inability to elevate ourselves through our own achievements; instead we make ourselves feel better about our own empty lives by reveling in the struggles of the rich and famous. At some level we realize that those who are rich and famous aren't that different from us on most levels of measure. Some are born wealthy; some achieve wealth through some innate talent. Yet our adulation of "celebrities" often contributes to their downfall. It gives those who have attained celebrity status a false sense of singularity, akin to being a member of some endangered species.
When Lindsay Lohan was arrested recently, it was reported that she told police they couldn't arrest her because she was a celebrity. Likewise, Paris Hilton sought release from jail because it was a hardship to which she was unaccustomed.
Our educational system tends to reinforce this pursuit of vicarious self-worth by watching the rich and famous crash and burn. With the easing of requirements to know a subject in order to pass and the adoption of child-centered education, the educational system fosters mediocrity by stressing the concept of self-esteem. What this process seems to miss is that self-esteem isn't something that can be taught like the alphabet. Self-esteem is a naturally occurring state that follows triumph over adversity. If the math class was tough, yet hard work and long hours of study brought about a respectable passing grade, self-esteem follows naturally. Those silly affirmations they teach children in elementary school about being "special" probably do more harm than good, as the result over the long terms is a self-centered narcissist who doesn't know how to spell "Aurora Borealis".
Rather than find meaning in our own lives through the vicarious enjoyment of some hapless celebrity's melt down, we would be well advised to create our own sense of celebrity by achieving success through personal challenges. We can still retain our sense of "specialness". But true achievement in the face of adversity is the ingredient that's most important.
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