If I walk down the magazine aisle of a bookstore, whether it’s Borders, Barnes and Noble or The Book House in Stuyvesant Plaza, I know what I’ll see on all the displays of brightly colored, large magazines! Celebrities, actresses, models and singers.
These are people who so many adore and look up to, but they get way too much attention. Because of their “star” quality, they have fans by the thousands, even millions. Unfortunately, the attraction isn’t for the right reasons.
One reason that I believe celebrities are getting too much attention is that they do nothing that is really helpful to the world. They act in a movie, sing a top-10 hit, or show off a designer’s newest creations. That’s not exactly doing a major act of kindness. What about the people who do really important things, like doctors who save lives, or scientists who discover some genetic cure for cancer? Why don’t I see them on magazine covers? They’re the ones who do the really important things, not the celebrities.
Another reason that there should be less focus on celebrities is that many are very bad influences on their fans, particularly younger girls. Do we really want our biggest inspirations to be people who go to crazy parties every night, or do even crazier things just to get attention? Young girls are huge fans of these superstars and try very hard to be like them.
This may not be so bad at first, but think of all the celebrities who have ruined their lives doing crazy things just for publicity. They go to crazy parties every night. They undergo several plastic surgeries just to get more attention. They spend thousands on unnecessary things, like mansions big enough to be five-star hotels, or cars that cost as much as a small house.
I do believe that if celebrities spent some time focusing on important things, they could be doing something that deserves the attention they get. What if they donated some of their millions to charity, or help to stem global warming? What if they just tried to be a better influence on their fans? Maybe if they just thought of this, these celebrities would really be a good influence on their fans, and maybe even be admired more than they currently are.
Do we really want young girls to grow up with these people as their inspiration?
Anastasia O’Neill is a seventh-grader at the Academy of the Holy Names in Albany.
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