Fame illusively progresses in four phases:
(1). A love-hate period - ego stroking evolves
The Psychology of Narcissism
Why do some people behave badly? Many people in the public eye appear to have everything. Understanding the psychology behind the emotions of entertainment personalties, politicians and athletes fueled by fame is to lift the curtain on inherent personality flaws and insecurities that help humanize those we idolize.
into questioning the gratification felt from being famous. (2). Addiction – where the lure of adoration becomes difficult to imagine living without. (3). Acceptance – requires embracing a permanent change in everyday life routines, where the attention becomes overwhelming and expectations, temptations, mistrust and familial concerns emerge and a threatening phenomena appears. (4). Adaptation – where new behaviors are developed in response to life changes.
Larger-than-life personalities feel a sense of
loneliness and separation through a loss of privacy.
Having a wave of people screaming a celebrity's name has a dehumanizing effect, making them feel like they’re a thing, rather than a person or unique character. The attention brings social validation, a feeling that they are appreciated but those providing this recognition are strangers, which brings the validity of the attention into the equation. Is it real or imagined?
ARTICLES
Some celebrities develop defense mechanisms designed to hide their insecurities when triggered by criticism, a fact of life for those in the public eye. To counter criticism, low self-esteem morphs into a high personal self-regard. Self-righteousness births an "its my way or the highway attitude." They can react to contrary viewpoints with anger or rage, projecting traits and behaviors they can’t or won't accept in themselves which feed the frenzy of diva seeking photographers who wait with baited breath for a single compromising shot they can sell to the tabloids for untold amounts of money.
This cycle of self-evaluation may have its genesis in an unconscious need to prove themselves to their not-so-confident inner child self.
Poor interpersonal boundaries emerge wherein they can't tell where they end and other person begins. Onscreen personas begin the commingle with their true self, leading to an identity crisis.
The fans expect their idols to be who they see on TV or the big screen and if they don't live up to that image there is disillusionment both in the fan and the celebrity. Fame comes with a price. When the trappings fade the cost can have an emotionally devastating affect on the self-image despite the media characterizations that all celebrities have perfect lives. When the assumed fame fades the question of reality or imagination is answered. When a career gets to this point sometimes the truth can hurt. An understandable reaction for some is avoidance, which brings on a form of agoraphobia, a self-imposed isolation birthed out of mistrust. Privacy becomes a coveted luxury fueling feelings of paranoia from constant exposure.
Some celebrities feel like targets, developing a heightened sense of awareness, scanning the environment to assess new advances to ascertain the need to retreat or advance for self-preservation.
Some celebrities enter the fame game with preexisting personality disorders such as narcissism.
Their need for extreme self-involvement and a grandiose sense of self-importance births a distorted sense of entitlement,which drives
them to be exploitative, showing little empathy
for those around them.
An entourage of hangers-on and paid devotees swarm and huddle around them hanging on their every word as if they were basking in the white- hot spotlight of their celebrities fame. This furthers the sense of the unreality of newly formed personal relationships. Are they real or imagined? Are people being paid to like you?
“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.”
- Oscar Wild, Writer
ARTICLES