Fame Whores

Fame whore
- noun. possible adjective.
- definition: someone who actively seeks popularity no matter the expense
- synonyms: Madonna, Paris Hilton

Was going through Cracked, one of my favorite sites, when I came across this article. Got me thinking. Why do people love fame so much? Almost everything we do is an attempt to be validated. Self-validation never counts, otherwise we never would use the word "validation." The intrinsic meaning of validation is to have someone else establish the fact that you are worth it.

(You don't validate your own school ID, do you? Didn't think so.)

Everyone's a fame whore these days. It's all a bid for 15 minutes of fame. This is why our Facebook accounts runneth over with idiotic pictures and stupid captions, and every minute someone gets tagged in a photo. This is why YouTube is a hit, there are MySpace celebrities, and the current formula for fame is to show your tits, fall over or have a meltdown on David Letterman.

Even this blog is - to a certain extent - based on a need for validation, among other things (other things of course include annoying the whole world just because I can, and a valid reason to rescuscitate dead and moldering videos of the Backstreet Boys). This, by extension, means that anyone and everyone who has a blog needs validation. (And all those who don't have blogs just need access to the internet.) *Waits for the stoning to start*

Of course it's not all about blogs. It's mostly the people who feel the need to put on a little Beyonce and start videotaping themselves shaking their asses in the shower. It's stupid inbreds who think intentionally giving themselves paper cuts on their penises and have it caught on camera is actually worth seeing.That is the essence of a true famewhore. The question is: why?

1. Because life is like an eternal jaunt through high school and we all need to have a little acceptance and recognition.

2. Because of Hannah Montana and everyone's secret belief that their life is a movie, complete with original soundtrack by U2.

3. Because, to quote Cracked:

" Parents were either absent completely or, at best, emotionally distant dicks. It turns out the whole surge in aspirations for fame came right along with the explosion of single parents and "broken" homes. Only half of today's children live with their original two parents.

You can see how this sad mechanism works in the attention-starved mind. The kid is programmed by biology to love a parent, but the parent doesn't return the love. Fame lets them turn the tables on that arrangement. When you're famous, millions love you, but you don't even know their names. It's purely one-sided. They wait for hours in the cold for your autograph, you barely glance at them on the way to your limo. You get to take their love and wipe your ass with it, the same as your parents did to you. "

4. Because we can.


In closing, I leave you with Lily Allen's latest single: The Fear. It's appropriately fitting, somehow.