Should a Celebrity Be a Role Model

Role models are people that were admired and most likely to be copied by most of the people in this globalization era. They are mostly people whose perseverance paid off while in pursuit of their dreams based on the positive principles they are governed by and for their sheer doggedness. The question is, should a celebrity be the role model? In what terms actually? Behavior?

Celebrities appear to be smiling personalities but actually they are all masked. Wash their faces off and they actually are just a figure to fancy. They are at the end just money minded and craving for fame. They don’t even care a bit for the wealth of the nation. For instance, Janice Dickinson, one of the participants in the reality show,” I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” is actually try to win some money for the AIDS organizations. But in the end, her behaviors that caught on the camera in the show really change the perceptions of people about her and the organizations itself thus, making her lose to other competitors based on the votes of Americas. In this century, people are no longer challenged to dream like the Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela who’s challenged to change their world; all they now want is an opportunity to be named among the rich and the famous.

Our celebrity role models have thrown caution to the wind; they have become strict adherents to the “sex sells” rule. All on television these days are nothing but images that promotes nudity, violence, foul language and gangster life. There is a hardly a musical video beamed on MTV where half naked girls are not on display. Modern day hip-hop artistes polluted our mind daily with lyrics that promotes violence, drugs, rape and even murder. These are the celebrities that people around the world are copying; they are gifted people who at the same time are morally bankrupt.

Divorce scenes had become a norm in the celebrity world. Even the celebrities in Malaysia also got influenced by the west countries. Divorce had become an issue to attract the attention of the public and these, which not surprisingly will create a scene that influences the world. Do this behavior that we are looking for to fit in our culture for the next generations?

The biggest fear may soon be realized: a generation of Mini Mileys all grown up. Slim girls in blond wigs walking around chomping on gum and talking with a Southern twang. Also the brilliant pop star, Madonna that educate people about bisexuality had become a worry as she also popped out the issue to made the female body a working machine like she is now, muscular. Way too muscular. Maybe people aren’t looking to celebrities to learn how to behave, but actually learn how not to behave. Maybe watching Lindsay Lohan wither away to nothing isn’t inspiring kids to diet, but rather showing the world of impressionable kids that it’s not cute to skip a meal every day for a month. It’s all up to the way of people accepting things.

Maybe some of the scenes are normal in the west countries. But do we in Asia? Or a smaller scope, Malaysia? Sexy outfits that had been worn by our artists had become a big issue especially the Muslims as these doesn’t fit in the culture of an Islamic country. Nonetheless, our eyes had again been blurred by the fake kindness and the great achievements of the celebrities.

As said ‘all glitters is not gold’, so do the celebrities. It is nothing but just to be with the trend we land up making celebrities as the role models. Teenagers carry pictures of celebrities they look up to them and treat them as gods. What they forget is that celebrities have no power whatsoever. Don’t confuse the actor with the role. Far beaming with broad smiles may enchant you. But do you think it is right to hand them over your destiny? Just poked your head and try re-wired the neurons and asked yourself again, should celebrity be the role models?