Hollywood (or celeb status, in general) transforms fun loving, bright, talented people into shadows of themselves. They end up doing drugs 90% of the time, with bags under their eyes and not even half the energy or passion that they had at the start of their career.
Take One Direction, for example. Now, I’m no fan of theirs, but I have done my research, and they're a prime example of this.
A friend sent me a video of them from last year (2013), and you can see them having fun on stage. During their Take Me Home tour, the members of the band were seen laughing on stage, joking around, dancing, changing their lyrics, and generally having fun.
Fastforward to this year, during their iHeartRadio festival performance. They band members look worn out, lacked energy, and looked like they wanted to be anywhere else.
Of course, this could have been a result of them doing this performance at the end of their Where We Are tour, or the fact that they have grown a little, but it’s only been a year and there is a clear distinction between the energetic performers they once were and the tired performers they now are.
Okay, point made: artists get worn out overtime. So what? That’s all?
No. There’s more.
Most celebrities, including One Direction, have management to give them a cookie cutter image. Apparently, earlier in the year, One Direction was caught in a drug scandal (we’ll get to that later). Soon after, Liam Payne posted a nude picture on Instagram with his junk pixelated.
Management then decided that in the next movie that the boys released, there would be absolutely nothing that was short of squeaky-clean. Much of the personal, fun side of the movie would be cutout.
Personally, I believe that this is a huge mistake. This overwhelming control that management has over the boys' lives just make them act out more. This is what I believe caused the drug scandal in the first place.
A brief summary, for those who don’t know: Louis filmed a video of him and Zayn smoking marijuana in the back of a car while in Peru. The other members of the band where not in the same car. This video was leaked, causing a major controversy.
I don’t agree with the drug use, despite the fact that it was “just” marijuana (call me prudish, whatever). However, that’s not the point of this post.
My point is that management is like overprotective parents that never let you have any freedom -- you're more likely to act out when you're not allowed to do anything. That, in combination with the overwhelming pressure to keep fans happy and a clean image (partially because of management), results in scandals such as this.
Celebrities are there for entertainment, not as role models. Stop putting these people up on pedestals, because they’re probably less perfect that you are. I think management should chill out. Let people think what they want about celebrities. Truth be told, people would be a lot more likely to like someone if they were 100% real, with nothing hidden or covered up for the sake of their image. This would prevent these entertainers' passion from being crushed over time, and would reduce some of the drug use.
