Celebrities in Different Lighting

          I recently read the article "What You Can Learn From Celeb Money Meltdowns"from the January 2013 issue of "Upfront Magazine". 

          In this article, the author urges us (meaning children, since this article is aimed at children/teenagers) to learn from celebrities' fiscal mistakes. Not only does the author analyze the problems each celebrity has had, ("Gossip Girl Leighton Meester had to take their mother to court over their financial feud. Mom thought she was entitled to a major cut of Leighton's earnings, Leighton disagreed,") they also suggest solutions that we can take to prevent the issue from happening to us: "Although most teens are trying to dig into their parents's pockets, not the other way around, the fact is money can be a touchy subject... The key is to compromise on points you disagree about." The purpose is good, and the fact that celebrities are used as the examples will probably get more kids to read it. The author also kept it sweet and simple by giving an overview and generality of the issue and not going into unnecessary details, ex: "Rihanna spent up to $3,300 a day on a traveling hairstylist." The article was also covered in pictures and colorful graphics to draw the readers who aren't as interested in heavy reading. Creating a piece of writing that will attract younger viewers and will keep them reading once they've started is quite difficult, and this author definitely accomplished it.

          Although the authors intentions were good, and the effect created was what he/she wanted, I questioned the article. Here is this article, showing the mistakes these celebrities have made, and showing how we can learn from them. It seems perfectly fine-- great, even. Finally! Someone using celebrities as ways to learn lessons from, not just people who we laugh and shake our heads knowingly at messes they've made, yet still manage to have them take up parts of our thoughts and daily lives. (Think about it, in the papers and on the news you hear stories about celebrites; on TV, almost everything you watch contains a celebrity, a lot of what you talk about are famous people who you don't really know.) Yet, still, something bothered me about this article... and I wasn't quite sure what it was. Like I said, the intentions were good, and the overall message was good, so what was it that didn't quite sit right?

          Then, it hit me. Well, it didn't quite hit me, it sort of slowly flittered into my brain. It was the manner in which the author spoke-- the manner in which he/she talked about the whole affair: lightly. "Sorry to rip on Ms. Lohan, but have you noticed she isn't getting a lot of work these days? Her reputation for bad behavior on the set, showing up late, and skipping meetings is ruining her career." The author talks about this quite casually. Of course, to most people, it is casual. 

         Lindsay Lohan isn't regarded as a huge role in the economy, or really an "important" person. Well, not someone who is expected to make a difference, anyway, or anything like that. The truth is however, celebrities have just as huge a role in the media and society, if not greater, than politicians or people that are factually making changes to the country. These people, whether they want to or not, are role models, and are constantly being monitored. The fact that Lindsay Lohan "racked up more than a half a million dollars in debt" due to her extravagant lifestyle would be a pretty huge deal if it were a politician, or another important figure. Although Lindsay Lohan does get a lot of press due to the fact that she messes up quite a lot, the main thing I am trying to say is that generally, celebrities get the same or more amount of attention as politicians do, and they need to accept that responsibility.