Exerting Worthwhile Energy

Before diving into what has me irked today, but ties into what I am going to discuss, I really am beginning to think that I should study social media and the way people interact on these forums. It is all so fascinating to me.  Someone is eventually going to begin (or already has begun) studying the kinds of online personas that are present on today's world wide web and social media platforms (that's a blog post still in progress).  From the quiet in "real life" person and very loud online person (meaning you see updates from them constantly) to the person who simply retweets celebs and parody accounts, I am intrigued by them all.  What I want to discuss in this post, are the hundreds and thousands of people who take special time out of their day to make rude comments on celebrities social media pages. 

If you despise that musician, actor/actress or athlete so much, why on earth are you on their personal pages spouting off?  Yes, freedom of speech, but people really take it too far.  Yes, you are entitled to your opinion, but it is not always necessary to share your ignoramus two cents.  Yes, public figures are allowed to be (and a lot of times should be) scrutinized, but there is a distinct difference between poking fun and unnecessary meanness.  LeBron James and Justin Bieber both are the two whose Instagram comments alarm me the most.  These are very, very successful and high profile celebrities who are making more money than the people leaving those comments will most likely ever see in their lifetimes. But yet, people are constantly making fun of LeBron's hairline and Justin Bieber's clothing. The researcher in me would love to find and interview these people and really challenge and ask them the most important question of all: Why? By leaving that comment, do you feel better about yourself? Why are grown men commenting about a 20 year old's jeans anyway? Think I'm exaggerating? Please take a minute now (or after reading this) and scroll the comment section on their pages or any celebrities for that matter.

In this country with so many freedoms, it seems so petty to not follow the old school rule of not saying anything at all if it's not nice.  People truly never cease to amaze me.  Everyday I am amazed by the prolific ignorance that and sincere hatred that people have in their hearts.  Why am I going to bother you if I don't like you and/or whatever it is you represent?  I wish...I really wish people would take the energy they use on pointless endeavors and put it into something that breeds results. If that miracle ever took place our economy would be resuscitated, the government would not still be shutdown (or even better never shutdown in the first place), and folks would know that Obamacare and The Affordable Care Act are indeed the same thing. Folks, we have got to get it together. We have to begin to care about the important matters going on in this crazy world around us.  Either we stand by and let it happen or we make change. Which will you choose?

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

Celebrity Psyche

I really just took a second to try and fathom the concept of growing up in front of millions and millions of people. Celebrities’ Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber are the two who made this thought cross my mind. I have made so many mistakes in my 24 years in the world and I am certainly a better person for making those mistakes. Without making mistakes you don’t grow—there’s just no way around it. But having to hear the professional critics, online bloggers and TV hosts make those mistakes known to the public would take a toll on me. 

These adolescents were/are held to great standards and very few people seem to acknowledge that fact. I guess because I’ve studied the models that Erik Erikson and other theorist have developed, I can’t help but think about what stages they may or may not have gotten to experience. They have all the money in the world in exchange for their innocence. If presented with the opportunity, I’m not sure if that would be something change about my childhood. 

Yes, I learn things the hard way most of the time, but to have to learn those things in front of the camera, can mess with your psyche. Everyone’s story is different, which is the beauty of life, however getting to live it without the majority of the world watching is something I don’t take for granted. It’s a wonder you don’t see more celebrities with mental health issues like poor Amanda Bynes. The entertainment industry is no joke. They get to share the talents they have been blessed, but the price they pay is truly insurmountable!

It was Nick Cannon who wrote to Amanda Bynes saying, “[…]the entertainment industry just consumes people and spits them out like flavorless bubblegum.”