The more I think about fame, hollywood culture, or even idol stardom in general, I’m starting to recognize how extremely fortunate and grateful I am to not be a part of that. When I was younger, I was certainly envious of what they had only because they had the resources to expand on their craft. Part of me thought that if I was involved, even at an earlier age, I wouldn’t have to constantly teach myself and DIY everything. I used to think that was exactly what I aspired to be. It seemed “easier” to just allow other people to direct you and follow their lead. But then at what point do you lose your sense of autonomy amidst being a product for the masses and a cash cow for the industry?

While I experienced this in small doses, I can’t imagine how much pressure it takes for an idol/celebrity to keep up their “image” – especially at a young age since their whole world is built upon that. I can only empathize so much. You start to crumble from the expectations that people instill for propping you on a pedestal so high. Your true innocence becomes tainted to uphold a false sense of “purity”. You are an illusion because the real “you” is obsolete, you’re not associated with the real “you”, no one cares about the real “you”. They only care about the act because it’s more comforting for them to live in a lie. You’re the “star” right? They said you could have it all and you got it, right? Sooner or later the “star” believes in this lie too. A life that isn’t really for them but a breeding ground for others to feed their egos off of. And once you ‘slip’, you’re not this shiny object for others to play with anymore, the show’s over.

So how could someone proclaim that the goal of an idol/celebrity is to spread “love and happiness” when those ideas that were spoon-fed to them were disingenuous, to begin with? Placating to the fans’ fantasies and bolstering your own delusions of grandeur… is that true love and happiness? I believe all sides that play into this fuel a narcissistic paradigm and all suffer equally from it. It’s not inspiring to me and it’s almost dehumanizing that society equates “success” with overwhelming attention, social media numbers, money, and materialism – none of which could ever fill the incessant void of loneliness.

We should seek the answer from within ourselves on what we believe love, happiness, and success are instead of looking externally for that validation. I believe if we don’t challenge it, it will encourage us to continue pretending. It’s important to be true to ourselves because we can never genuinely connect with each other if we continue to leave our “masks” on. Absolutely nothing could replace authentic human connection and without it, we can’t evolve from where we are. We’re meant to grow. We’re meant to live our lives to the fullest. If we’re put here to have dreams, wouldn’t it make sense to want to make that a reality?